Temporal Twilight
by ShadowsWeaver1
Summary: InuPapa rocks my world! And after so many requests, I simply couldn’t NOT write a story for him and Kagome once I discovered that a listing had been dedicated to him on FFN.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Mama, please. This isn't necessary."

Miya Higurashi didn't take her eyes from the road as she answered. "Kagome, dear," she said softly, her voice calm and gentle, measured with loving support. "You are my daughter, and I only want what's best for you. I have been told that doctor Taisho is the best psychoanalyst in the country, and quite possibly the world. If there is anyone that will be able to help you overcome your…situation, I believe it will be him."

Sighing quietly in resignation, knowing that her words simply weren't getting through anymore, Kagome turned away from her mother. She settled her chin in the palm of her hand and watched distantly as the other vehicles on the road moved past them in their rush to go wherever it was they were going. But Kagome was in no rush. She was being taken against her will and despite her protests and assurances that she wasn't in need of psychiatric 'help', and on her way to be locked away from the world she had fought so hard for so long to se kept safe.

'_Some thanks I get,' _she mused sourly as she continued to watch the world slip by around her. _'Save the world, and they call you crazy.'_

But she knew that she wasn't crazy. She knew. The things that had happened to her HAD happened. _'No one can just make up a story like that.'_ She knew it had been real.

Sighing heavily, Kagome leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. In her mind, she was going over what had happened, what she could have done differently.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was a moment of joy, of elation, of new hope.

Naraku had finally been destroyed, and all of her friends had lived through the day. They stood upon the battlefield, surrounded by the carnage, but not even the horrid scene could dispel the current of excitement that rushed through them all.

It was over. The battle had been won. The war had finally come to its end.

There had only been one thing left to do. In Kagome's hand rested the Shikon Jewel, the Jewel of power that had wrought so much destruction and had orchestrated so much pain. But no longer was it tarnished black, for in her hand it glowed the gentle pink radiance that reflected the purity of her own heart. They all knew what was to come. A wish had to made upon the Jewel, a wish that was pure enough to ensure that the darkness sealed within it could never again break free and unleash its madness and chaos and destruction upon the land.

For a long time Kagome had thought about what kind of wish was needed, and in turn about what the truth of purity was. But in the end, she came to a realization. There was nothing and no one that was completely pure. Even she, the one that could purify the shards of the jewel, that could hold back the darkness sealed within by her gift, her light; even she was not pure. Kagome knew this, knew that no person could be entirely pure. There were times when she felt despair, felt hatred or jealousy or greed, times when she knew the darkness and felt its pains. But it was that she could see this of herself, that she could understand that such feelings were natural, were human, Kagome could still maintain her inner purity.

And, she realized, that a 'pure' wish would be no different. Somehow, she had to account for both the darkness and the light. One must be embraced by the other. Both must be given equal opportunity. For the darkness could never truly be destroyed. It simply was, and it must be accepted for anyone to ever truly see the light.

She had made her decision, and when the time came, she was prepared to face it.

Slowly, she looked to each of her friends.

Miroku, her teacher, her brother, her friend. The lecherous monk that could make her smile as easily as he could make her blood boil with fury when his so called 'cursed' hand found its way to fondling her curves. How many times she had slapped him silly for it and he still hadn't' learned, even after the curse beset upon him and his family's line by Naraku was no more? The memory of him would always make her smile. For so long, his had been the voice of reason, and even with him gone from her, she would always remember the steady confidence he held and the soft reassurance of his voice.

Sango, her sister, her confidant, her rock. The demon slayer had lost everything that was ever important to her, but she had the will and the determination of a true fighter. Her family had been taken from her, her own brother tuned into nothing more than a slave to the dark hand of corruption; and though hardened by everything that had befallen her, still the Taijiya could be soft. She would smile and laugh, and even though her heart had been torn so horribly, still she would love. Hers was the strength that they had all looked to, had all relied upon; and even now Kagome could see the solid conviction that would burn in her sister's eyes and feel empowered, ready to make any stand.

Shippo, her little kit, her adopted son. Oh, that she could only hold him one more time, hear his sweet laughter, play his childish games. Older than her in years, by his demon blood he was still a child in need of care. So easily it had been to take him in after knowing that it had been her fault that his family had been devastated by the cursed Jewel. But how she had loved him. How she had simply laid awake at night, holding his little body tight to hers, and praying that he might have a future beyond the darkness that they were constantly facing. Her little darling. She would never forget his smiles and his games, his laughter or his tears. And what she would remember the most was the feelings and strength that he inspired in her, the need to protect those who could not protect themselves.

Inuyasha. It was he that she looked to last. Her hero, her blazing knight. Her savior and her champion. But also her best friend. For almost four years they had shared everything together. From times of joy and laughter to those of sorrow and loss. They had been there for each other, holding each other up in the hard times, giving each other strength and support. And she had loved him. Though his heart belonged to another, never did that make her feelings any less strong. She knew that they were never meant to be, but still she promised she would never leave his side. And it was a promise that she would forever keep. She knew, without a doubt, that no matter how much time or distance separated them that there would always be a part of her that would remain by his side, a part that would love him always.

She had smiled at them, told them all how much she loved them; and then she tightened her hand around the Jewel and made her wish.

But it was not to see the Jewel destroyed that she wished for. In fact, she wished for it to be born again. She wished that the Jewel that had crossed time itself would return to the hour of its making, and that in that moment, that it would share its power with all of the land and all of the creatures inhabiting it. From human to demon alike, all would share in the power, and all would share in its destiny. Whether they be of the light of the darkness, whether their hearts be pure or corrupt, whether they would fight for a future or to see the land destroyed: she made no distinction. She wished for them all, wished for a power so coveted to be given to all creatures, and in so doing, she wished that the balance be restored.

The last thing she remembered was a blinding flash of light as the Jewel disintegrated in her hands. Like a million tiny grains of sand slipping through her fingers, the magic of the Jewel was washed away.

When she awoke, she found herself lying in a hospital bed. She had been returned to her time. It took only moments for her awakening to be noticed, and then only moments more for her world to be shattered.

_You have been in a coma_, they had told her. _You were found lying at the bottom of a well by your family, and been with us for the past three years._

No. She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't. She knew what had happened. She knew she hadn't dreamt it all.

She tried telling her mother, her family. Tried telling them of what had happened to her friends on the other side of the well. But they hadn't believed her, had told her than none of them had ever met the hanyou boy Inuyasha, that they had never heard of a world beyond the well. She became frustrated, incessant. They had to believe her! They had to listen! But they had shushed her, told her that everything would be all right, that she just needed to rest.

But Kagome knew better. Things would never again be all right.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And now, having been unable to convince her family of what she had known to be the truth, they had decided it would be 'best' for her to visit yet another doctor, yet another so called 'expert' that would tell them in his professional way that she was 'troubled' or 'disturbed' that she had been 'hallucinating' or experiencing 'delusions'.

Sometimes she would think that perhaps they were right, that perhaps she really hadn't lived the past three years fighting monsters and living so close to death. But in those times, when she felt the most uncertain and the most fearful for her own wellbeing, that the powers that had been both a blessing and a curse to her would show her a truth she could not deny.

She had seen them. Walking among the human population without notice or recognition, the youkai still lived, still thrived even in this time of advancement and technology. They had lived through the years, had fought for their survival; and now they were a part of the world as surely as she was.

No. She hadn't dreamt it. She had been there. She had fought the battles. She had been the one to put an end to the reign of the cursed Shikon.

But why couldn't anyone remember? Why was she the only one that had any memories at all? Why was it that even the name Shikon held no recognition to anyone anymore? What had happened? Had her wish changed things so much? And if so, if it were possible for her to find someone who would have knowledge of the past, someone who had been there during the battles, would they too have forgotten? Would they not remember her even though she remembered them?

"Wake up, Kagome. We're here."

Kagome rolled her eyes behind her closed lids, but refused to open them, refused to look upon her new prison. "I'm not going," she said stubbornly. "I know the truth, but no one believes me. And if you make me go in there, if you drag me in like some incompetent child, then I will lie."

"Kagome," Miya sighed. "I know that you don't want to do this. I know that you believe in what you are saying. No one is here to judge you. We all simply want to understand why this 'memory' is so important to you."

Scowling, Kagome finally opened her eyes to glare at her mother. "You're so full of shit! You say that no one wants to judge me, but you sit there talking to me like I'm a five year old! Like I've already lost my mind! You've already judged me! You think I'm as crazy as all those other doctors you took me to before! The only reason we're here now is because this is the last doctor that will even take my case without pumping me full of drugs and locking me permanently in a padded room!"

"Kagome…"

"Just forget it!" she yelled as she grabbed the door leaver and yanked it hard enough to nearly wrench it from its holdings. Flinging the door open roughly, she stepped out and made an impressive imitation of one of Inuyasha's growls before slamming the door closed again.

So caught up in her anger, Kagome hardly took any notice of the sprawling estate they had pulled up to as she marched up to the front door. The beautiful gardens were nothing to her but a blur of green hardly cutting through the haze of red that was taking over her vision.

Her steps slowed. Blinking a few times, she tried to rid herself of the red fog clouding her vision. But it was to no avail. The red remained, crimson light that seeped into her senses and burned away all else in it wake.

"Youkai…" she whispered tentatively.

Stopping completely now, she took some time to look around. The main building was ahead of her, a massive three story building with white walls that gleamed in the light of the midday sun. Its entrance was unique, curved in the sweeping arches of the old days at its peak, but brought closer, made more inviting, by a long run of decorative pillars that supported the archway as it curved downwards on both sides of the entering walkway. The white walls too were softened, the hardness shaded behind the thick greens of the vines of Wisteria that were just beginning to peak with tiny blossoms of the purest white.

The windows, however, were dark. Not merely the trick of the sun as it shielded eyes from a view within, they were tinted slightly against the glare, or, perhaps, against the threat of looking in.

Her senses were set on high alert. Her breathing quickened, taking in more air to fuel her body with higher stamina. Quickly, she allowed her eyes to shift through the gardens that lined the walls and spread down into the broad entranceway's fields of green grasses. The slight roll of the drive, the way it twisted between beds of flowers raised upon lifting mounds that tapered much more sharply at their far ends, made Kagome tense.

She has seen this type of landscaping before. Of course, then there had been no beautiful blossoms, then there had been no need for conspicuousness. Then there had been peoples at war. Villages built walls to keep out predators, those both of the night and of their own kind, those seeking land and riches, or simply those seeking blood. And fortresses were no different.

She turned her attention back to the main house. Taking in more now, she could see the cameras so tactfully hidden behind the cresting of the columns, only visible once having passed them and able to see into the shadows. And the entrance, though having its dark-stained wooden doors ajar and inviting, a second barrier remained; one of technology. Old houses were often redone to include such safeguards in this time, of course. And it was reasonable for an institution of such to have barriers to prevent those from leaving who should not. But in this case, Kagome was almost certain that the precautions were not needed for those within.

'_So strong…'_ Her skin was tingling with currents of energy. It was everywhere, touching everything in this place. The power.

But it was strange. It seemed relaxed somehow, quiet even. So many times before, when she had sensed the aura of a youkai, they had been enraged, in battle, in fear, in anxiety, in some state of aggression or of defense. But here the power simply was.

It was…soothing. Almost as though….almost as though it was something known.

Kagome drew in a sharp breath. _'What if…?'_ She was almost afraid to ask the question, even in her own mind. _'What if they're…?'_

"It is quite lovely, isn't it Kagome?"

Startled by her mother's sudden comment, Kagome had to work hard to keep herself from jumping more than a foot. "It's great," she murmured quickly in response, her eyes moving again to the building in front of her. "Mom…"

"No. No." Miya cut in quickly. "We are here, and we are at least going to talk to the man." She took hold of Kagome's hand and began pulling her towards the entrance. "They say he is very nice, Kagome. I even hear that he has won several humanitarian awards for his work with those of…varying fortune."

Kagome couldn't help but shake her head. Ever since her 'episode,' or whatever 'non-labeling' word her mother would like to give that always gave a large birth to 'Serious mental breakdown', the woman had taken to every politically-correct phrasing that existed instead of saying the truth of what she actually thought – that her daughter had completely lost her mind.

They stepped up to the automated doors together, continuing through when they had slid open nearly soundlessly across its bearings. A soft _whoosh_ from behind them was the only signal of the doors slipping closed, but it still sent a cold shiver down Kagome's spine.

Trapped. Tension gripped her again. Her hand tightened around her mother's, though out of fear or protection she wasn't sure.

"It will be alright, dear," Miya soothed as she patted her daughter's hand gently.

Nodding mutely, Kagome allowed her mother to lead her to the reception area set up just inside the doorway. A pleasant woman in her mid thirties greeted them warmly, offering wide smiles that caused her rounded face to squint into soft lines. Her tightly curled hair framed her face, giving her a doll-like appearance as the tight ringlets of black twisted in every direction. But it suited her, for this woman radiated a comforting air; that of a mother.

"We have been expecting you," she said with another smile. "Please, follow me. I will take you to Dr. Taisho's office."

"Taisho…" Kagome whispered the name, her mind spinning with possibilities she had never even dreamed of. Before, it had been of no consequence what the doctors' names were. She had tuned them out, quit listening to their claims of delusions and misconceptions. She had known the truth and they didn't. It was that simple. She had thought nothing more of this one. Not until now.

"Kagome, dear," Miya said in a laughing voice. "You look like a gapping fish. What has gotten you so distracted all of a sudden? Usually you're muttering curses by now about the obscenity of all of this. Which, by the way," she added sternly, "you know I am not at all fond of. Cursing is such an unladylike thing for a woman to do."

'_Pft,'_ Kagome mentally snorted. _'You try living with a hanyou that only speaks the language of vulgarity for three years and see how long you make it without using a few of them. Besides, Inuyasha was way worse than I could ever be. And if he were here right now, and saw that you were dragging me from institution to institution, he would have cursed a blue streak so long it could have wrapped around the earth six times!'_

"Right in here, ladies," the secretary told them as she pushed into a large office.

Light spilled into the room from the wall of windows, lighting everything with a soft yellow glow. And beyond the glass lay a fantastic view of the gardens outside and the large, winding, coy pond that trickled in streams to fill the large basin settled just below the wall of windows.

Once they were inside, the secretary turned and left them to their privacy, though leaving the heavy doors ajar.

"This place is so…"

"Big? Scary? Like a prison house or a guard tower?"

Miya shot Kagome a disciplining glare. "Ornate." She finished firmly, and then sighed as she let her eyes sweep over the large office with all of its exquisitely carved furniture and its massive collection of books.

'_Expensive, you mean,'_ Kagome thought sadly. _'I'm sorry, mama…'_

Before Kagome could offer her mother any words though, her eyes were drawn to the large desk in the middle of the room. Curiously, she stepped closer to get a better look. _'Is that…?'_ She couldn't believe what she was seeing. On the desk, bathed in the warm of the sun and settled upon a subtle display stand, lay a sword. She took another step. And then froze. _'It is…'_

Her breathing stopped. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest. Her fingers twitched at her sides, anxious, timid, but desperate, too. She needed to touch it. Needed to feel with more than her inner senses that it was real. She stepped closer, but cautiously.

She was afraid. Afraid to find out it was a mirage. Afraid to find out that it wasn't. Afraid that if it was real, that He would be as well.

Slowly, she reached out. Her fingers brushed against the smooth carving of the sheath. They were trembling. She pulled back slightly and clenched her shaking hand. Then, with a surge of determination, she reached out forcefully and took hold of the sword.

It was unremarkable, plain, something so ordinary and so commonplace in Japan. But this sword was not a decorative piece. This blade was not put on display in some archive or museum. This blade was set in a position of honor, given respect by all who entered here.

And respect it deserved. She could feel its power tingling against her senses even through the sheath that held it. Without thinking, needing to see it completely, she secured the hilt of the sword in her hand and pulled it from its covering. The blade sang as it was drawn, a melody so sweet it was like a choir of angels.

The Fang of Heaven. "Tensaiga…"

"One should be careful when playing with swords. You might get cut."

The smooth, deep, rich voice that sounded out from behind her made Kagome's heart flutter. It was so familiar. The cool measure, the unwavering confidence, and the low drone of something else, something more, something powerful just beneath the surface.

She smiled as she began to turn to him. "You know as well as I do that Tenseiga could never hurt a soul, Sessho…" She stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened in confusion, uncertainty, fear, and painful shock. "You're…you're not Sesshomaru."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Who?"

"No…" Kagome took a step back from him. She clutched the sword to her chest, hugging it desperately. "No!" she said again with a sharp shake of her head. She stopped herself from backing away and looked back up to him.

He was youkai. She could see it as plain as day. Not even her spiritual senses were needed to see the flawless pallor of skin, the delicate point on his elven ears, and most strikingly, the glistening silver of his hair and the piercing gold of his eyes. He looked almost identical to Sesshomaru. He had the same tall frame, lean with muscle, built for fluidity and power. The same grace and poise. The same intimidating presence.

His markings though, weren't the same. Where Sesshomaru had deep cut paths of burning crimson running in sharp lances across his cheeks in parallel with the strong line of his jaw, this youkai was marked with jagged paths of indigo. But that coloring she had seen before as well. It was in his times of utmost desperation, when Inuyasha had called upon the demon blood of his father to give him strength that he had taken on those markings, that he had taken on the youkai traits of his family's line.

Finding her voice, Kagome whispered. "You look just like them…"

"Like who, dear?" he mother questioned from her side.

"Like Inuyasha and Sesshomaru!" Kagome said excitedly as she turned to her mother. "Can't you see it? Look at his hair, his eyes! They're just like I told you! See, mama? See? I knew it was real! I knew it wasn't all just in my head!"

"Kagome," Miya started tentatively. She stole a quick glance at the doctor out of the corner of her eye, but it only reaffirmed to her that he was simply a normal man. He was handsome, surely enough, clean cut, wearing a top brand suit opened lazily at the collar for comfort. But as for his hair, though unusually long, he had the sleek black strands tied neatly at the base of his neck in a respectable tie. And his eyes were a simple brown. They seemed kindly, though retaining a seriousness to them, as though he were taking in every single detail he was seeing. "Kagome," she tried again with a slight shaking of her head, "this is Doctor Taisho."

"You don't…you don't see it?" Kagome stammered in disbelief. "Impossible…"

"Mrs. Higurashi," Dr. Taisho addressed Miya with a slight inclination of his head. "I think that perhaps Kagome and I should begin with a small talk. Just the two of us."

Miya cast a worried look at her daughter. "Alright," she relented after a moment. "Kagome," she reached out and drew her daughter into a tight hug. "Just talk to the doctor. For me, please?"

Kagome sighed. "Alright, mama," she agreed. Though she had much more planned than simply talking with him. Her mother released her and turned to wards the door. She passed Taisho with a soft, sad smile, whispered her thanks to him, and then was gone from the room.

The second Kagome believed her mother to be out of hearing range, she looked back to the youkai. Her eyes were narrowed, hard with accusation. "What sort of sick game is this?" she asked in a low, angry voice. "What? Youkai are now taking on human patients? Or am I to be a subject in some warped experiment for your pleasure?"

"So defensive," Taisho mused as he began walking slowly towards his desk with long, measured strides.

Kagome backed away from him with every step he took, maintaining the distance between them. "You get that way when you're fighting for you life."

"Ah, I see," Taisho said placactingly as he settled himself in the large padded leather chair behind the desk. "You are speaking of you dreams, correct?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Kagome yelled as she gripped onto the sword in her hands even tighter. "You are a youkai, just as surely as this blade was crafted from the fang of a youkai! I want to know who you are and what connection you have to this fang, because I know for damn sure that Sesshomaru wouldn't hand over his father's legacy to just anyone! He was a frigid, stubborn, jackass; but at least he had his honor and pride!"

Kagome swore she saw a flash of recognition sweep through his golden eyes like a clash of amber waves. But no sooner had she seen anything, than it was replaced by a sharp glint, a hardening of the golden surfaces, a barrier to anything beyond.

"The name you speak," He said slowly in a measured voice, "Sesshomaru? And the other, Inuyasha? These persons were part of your dreams?"

"They weren't dreams!" Kagome cried in exacerbation. "They were real! They were the past! I fought with Inuyasha in the Sengoku Jidai, the hanyou son of Inu no Taisho. And his elder brother, Sesshomaru, youkai Lord of the Western Lands in place of his father, was the heir to the legacy of Tenseiga. The sword I'm holding in my hands! You can't deny this!"

Taisho waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "There are millions of swords in Japan."

"Oh yeah," Kagome challenged tersely. "And how many of them can bring people back from the dead?"

Taisho blinked, his brow rising slightly in surprise. "Now, if a mere sword could be made to do such things," he replied smoothly, "what a world it would be. No sickness. No death. A paradise."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed sadly. Her eyes drifted down to the sword in her hands. "I bet he thought that too. But his paradise would never be. His wife was murdered by her own people on the night she gave birth to his child. All because they couldn't see past the differences, because they believed that youkai and humans could never make anything from love. And when he went to save her, to bring her life of his own power, his own fang; he met his end in a storm of blood and fire."

"Aren't fairytales supposed to have happy endings, Kagome?"

"In a Feudal fairytale," she replied slowly as she lifted her haunted eyes to stare into the golden depth of his, "Someone's heart is always being broken."

"A sacrifice for the greater good?" he asked.

"No," she replied wistfully, "For the future."

"Hn," He mused softly, leaning back in his chair. He gestured to the large padded chairs on the other side of his desk, indicating for her to sit. "Would you tell me of this future?"

But Kagome shook her head. "The future is what we make it," she sighed as she slowly moved towards the offered chair. Once she had seated herself tensely at the edge, she looked back to the youkai. "I would tell you of the past."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ok, so I just found out that there's an InuPapa section here on FFN. FINALLY! And I was so excited about the prospect that I just had to write something. I know, I know, I have two other stories that I haven't finished yet, but I couldn't help it! –Dreamy sigh- I just love Toga. Besides, I can sidetrack for a short story (hear that muses? I said short! No dragging this one out, hear me?)

So yeah, anyways, hope you've all enjoyed.

Later

Shadow

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything but my imagination, but especially not the characters of Inuyasha


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

He waited patiently for her to begin her story, not saying anything that might deter or distress her. But Kagome could see the sharp focus of his eyes as they trained on her, and somehow she knew that there would be more to the story than even she knew. She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly in preparation for what was to come.

So many times she had tried to tell this story, and so many times had she been laughed at, ridiculed, and made to think that the memories that were so strong in her and so close to her heart were nothing but fantasies and delusion concocted by a troubled mind. They may have never said it out loud, may not have allowed their disbelief or cynicism show outwardly; but it was always there. She could see it in their eyes, feel it in the vibrations of their auras.

But they had all been human, they had not believed in the magic or in the demons that had once walked in the open and ruled over the lands. But he did. He must.

Looking back up to the youkai, she tried once again and once again failed to understand the familiarity she felt while in his presence. Partially, she knew, it was because of the striking resemblance he shared with the Inu brothers she had known in the past, but there was something more as well, something that remained just beyond her grasp of understanding.

'_Who are you?' _she asked silently. Of course, there was no answer given. It remained elusive, but she was determined to discover its truth. As in so many things, it was only a matter of time.

"On the morning of my fifteenth birthday," she began, "as I was on my way to school, Souta, my little brother, asked for my help finding our family's cat. He said that it had gone into the old well house on the Shrine grounds, but was afraid to go in after it. Of course," she smiled faintly, "I laughed at him and called him silly for being afraid of a simple well. But it was me that should have been afraid.

"Waiting in the well, abandoned by time and lost to memory, the bones of a centipede youkai had been laid to rest. As I neared, the power within me called out to her and gave her new strength. She rose out of the depths of the old well and took hold of me. In the next instant, I found myself lost in the endless streams of a magic portal. It surrounded us, was everywhere and everything. And when my feet touched down on the ground, I was no longer in my home. I wasn't even in my own time."

Kagome paused in her story to regard the youkai who was supposedly to be her 'doctor'. "Isn't this the part where you are supposed to ask me what the demon looked like? Like…if it was some twisted version of my sadistic aunt who used to lock me in a closet as a child?"

"Was it?"

"No."

"Were you really locked in a closet as a child?"

"No."

"Then why would I ask?"

Kagome shrugged. "Because all the others did. By now, the other doctors would have already written me off if they couldn't get me to say that this so called 'demon' I speak of was nothing more than the light playing tricks with the shadows in the old well house, my imagination run wild after having read too many old myths and scrolls, or maybe just the beginnings of my dream after I had hit my head at the bottom of the well. Oh," she added with a scowl, "and their favorite thing to point out is that Souta has no memory of it ever happening."

She laughed bitterly. "Not like it makes any difference if he does or not. They would just call him crazy too, and he'd end up just like me. I wouldn't blame him for keeping his mouth shut." Stopping herself from rambling, Kagome sighed and shook her head. "But he doesn't know. He doesn't remember. None of them do. My whole family had met Inuyasha when he would cross over to come and get me to return me to that time. Some of my friends met him too. But none of them can remember any of it. No one but me."

"Does that not tell you something, Kagome?"

"Sure," she replied with a smirk twisting on her lips as she looked back to him. "It tells me that you aren't skeptical of youkai and demons because you know for a fact they exist, because you are one yourself."

"Oh?" Taisho asked curiously. "And what kind of youkai am I, Kagome?"

"Inu," she answered with certainty. "I could never mistake your kind for any other. Inuyasha was my best friend. We traveled together for over three years. I will always remember the feeling of an Inuyoukai, even if it is only half."

"I see," he said slowly. "Well then, perhaps you would tell me more of this Inuyasha."

"You're not going to deny it?" she pressed him. "You admit to being a youkai?"

Taisho spread his hands in an absent gesture before clasping them together on the polished surface of his desk. "What difference would it make? You see me as you see me…"

"I see you as you are," Kagome cut in sharply.

"Regardless," he continued easily as though he had never been interrupted, "We are here to talk about you, not about me."

"But I want to know about you," she told him, a hint of eagerness creeping into her voice. For so long she had gone without any real affirmation of what had happened to her, but now there was a youkai right in front of her, speaking to her, hearing her story and knowing that it was true, that it had happened, that the magic and myths were as real as she was. He had to know. He had to understand. But, what was more, he had to remember. "I want to know what you know, what happened between that time and this one, what I changed because of my wish on the Jewel."

"Jewel?"

Kagome sighed in exacerbation. He was diverting her from questioning him. He had been doing it since they had first met, always skirting around answering any of her questions and directing them back towards her. Still, she wasn't deterred. If by telling her story she could gain a dialogue with him, if it would make him more comfortable to share what she knew he was keeping from her; then so be it.

"They called me a miko," she said, "a priestess, a sacred guardian. But those words were only a pretty cover for the truth. I was cursed. I carried within me what could have been the end of the world. It was darkness sealed by the light, the bringing together of demonic and spiritual powers. It was madness kept soothed by the gentle hand of purity. It was love and friendship, wisdom and valor; but it was chaos and darkness, destruction and anguish, as well. The Shikon no Tama. The Jewel of Four Souls. It was a power sought by all manner of man and beast. They would have it for their own, use it to gain their hearts deepest desire. It lured them in with the promise of everything, that nothing wished for would be too grand or too much.

"And it was my responsibility. It had been born within me. My body had served as its temple. And so it was my duty to see that it never fall into the hands of any that would use it for wrong. But I hadn't known, and because of my foolishness the Jewel was lost, scattered across the land in hundreds of tiny shards.

"For just over three years I searched to reclaim it. With the friends I had made along the way, an Inuhanyou, a young Kitsune, a Taijiya and her beloved feline companion, and a cursed monk; we fought countless demons and survived many terrible battles all in an effort to get it back.

"But there was another who also sought the jewel, a hanyou born of the fusion of demonic spirits and mortal flesh. He was wicked, manipulative, scheming, and terrible. He had no pity and no remorse. He was a villain, a monster, a vile, despicable beast. His name was Naraku.

"When the final battle for the Jewel came, it was like a nightmare made real. But somehow, through the fire and the blood, the pain and the fear; we defeated him. The Jewel was in my hands once more, whole and pure and safe. But I knew that it would never truly be safe. Everyone who had tried to defend the Jewel had failed. The only option left, the only way to be certain that no one could ever seek the Jewel's destructive power again, was to destroy it.

"How? How do you destroy something that is so awesome in its power? You can't. I realized this. And so, when the moment came, I made a wish. I wished that the Jewel's power return to the time of its making, and that it be shared by all. Upon every creature in the land I cast the responsibility for the Jewel. They were the ones that would hold its power, and their children, and their children's children."

"It must have been difficult," Taisho said slowly, "to release such a power when you could have kept it for yourself."

"It had to be done," Kagome replied. "The Jewel was a curse. It couldn't be controlled, couldn't be tamed. The power in it was wild and reckless. If it fell into the wrong hands because I didn't have the strength to turn away from its call, then everything we had fought would have been for naught. All of the sacrifices made would have been in vain."

She sighed again and looked down at the sword resting across her lap. She stoked it lightly with her fingertips, feeling the strong vibrations of power running through its flawless surface, being comforted by the presence she had known for so long. She could still feel Him in the resonating hum of the blade. Just like Tetsusaiga, there remained traces of the General's will.

"He understood," she said quietly. "He knew that ultimate power would ultimately lead to destruction. It was his will that brought the end to the reign of So'unga, the demon sword of the Underworld. But even though he captured the blade, even though the terrible Wars of World Conquest were brought to an end by his actions; still he knew it wasn't enough. Some powers are simply too much. And so, by his will, in the legacy he left to his children, he gave them the tools they needed to see So'unga sealed forever in the fires of its making."

"Why leave something so dangerous as a legacy?" Taisho asked.

"I don't know," Kagome replied. "Why would you?"

"Me?"

Nodding, Kagome brought her focus up to him. "I met him once, though not in the true sense. It was after the portal to the netherworld had been sealed, after we had defeated So'unga. He had appeared before us to offer his sons his final words and his praise for their having completed his trust. He was astral, a form projected from the land beyond, obscured from view by currents of restless energy and unsettled draughts of air. But still, I could see. I see him in you, Dr. Taisho."

"So, you have finally given me a role to play in your story. But you said yourself this General was dead. How could I be him, Kagome?"

"How is it that youkai walk among us and no one sees?" she asked instead. "Why have we become blind to magic? Why did it take me falling 500 years into the past to have my eyes opened to the truth?"

"Is it the truth?"

"It is what happened."

"If that is so, then why have you returned to a future that can not remember you, that can not remember the pains you went through or the sacrifices you made?"

Kagome drew in a sharp breath and looked away from him. "I don't know." Her voice was small, wavering slightly with pain that shimmered just beneath the surface. It had been a question that she had asked herself so many times, but one to which she could never find the answer.

She was on the verge of tears. Facing this truth was the most painful. To know that no one would ever know of what she went through, never believe in the world that she had fought so hard for; it was almost unbearable. She blinked hard to try and ebb away her tears. "Tell me something true," she whispered in quiet need.

"What would you have me say?"

"Anything."

Leaning back in his chair, Taisho studied the young woman that had been brought into his care. Her belief was so strong, but what shocked him the most was the strength of her conviction. Delusions were made of troubled minds, but in her words she displayed such understanding, more than many could ever hope to obtain. And it was an understanding that was forged from experience.

But he too had had experienced such things before. "I have a son," he told her, waiting to gain her attention before continuing. "All his life he was plagued with dreams, dreams so real that sometimes he couldn't separate them from reality. It was for him that I studied psychiatry, and for him that I seek out cases like his own, where the memory has seen something that can not be explained but can not be forgotten."

Giving her a moment to register his words, he asked, "Is this true enough for you, Kagome? Is this what you would hear?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"There is nothing to be sorry for," he interrupted her. "I would not have told you had I not thought it would be of benefit for you to hear. Now," he said as he stood. "I believe that we have talked enough for the time being. Would it be presumptuous of me to think that you would like to stay for a time to tell me more of your story?"

"I…"

"You will be free to do whatever you wish while staying here. The house and the gardens are yours to explore as you see fit. I will even see to your mother's comfort should she wish to stay."

"Mama…" Kagome had nearly forgotten that her mother had been waiting all this time. Her features contorted in unease. "I don't know," she answered slowly. "This place is so extravagant. We couldn't possibly afford to…"

"Nonsense," he cut her off again. "For you, Kagome, I will make a special exemption to my usual fare. You intrigue me, and that is no easy feat. Stay as my guest. Talk to me some more about your memories and your experiences. Perhaps together we can find the answers that you seek."

"I…I think I'd like that." Kagome offered him a small, timid smile. But her smile was quickly twisted with deviousness. "And maybe you'll finally tell me who you are."

"You know who I am," he replied with a smile of his own.

"Do I?" she asked speculatively. "Now which you are we talking about? The head doctor, or the big dog wrapped in the illusion of mortal skin?"

"Which would you prefer?"

"I only want the truth."

"Then we are of the same mind."

Kagome snickered. "Are you sure about that? You know, until you, every person I've talked to has figured me destined for the loony bin."

"Well," he shrugged passively, "They say misery loves company. Perhaps insanity does as well."

Kagome shot him a deadpan look. "Are you calling me insane or miserable?"

"Aren't you?" he asked vaguely.

"Insane? No," she answered firmly. "But miserable…" she drifted off for a moment, but then smiled wistfully. "No. Not so much anymore."

"Then it has been a good day," Taisho said. "Can we ask for anything more?"

Kagome thought about that for a moment. What did she want? She had wanted someone to listen to her, someone that wouldn't automatically assume that she was talking nonsense and spouting gibberish, someone that would see her as a person and not a patient. He had given that to her, but he had given so much more. He had made her feel, for the first time in a long time, that perhaps this future, even without the knowledge of her past, could still accept her as she was. And he had given her hope, hope that the past she had known had not abandoned her, that there was still a chance for her to uncover the mysteries of what had happened.

What more could she want? Well, there was one thing. "What is your name?"

He lifted an eyebrow, the gesture so eerily familiar to her. "It is not very professional to be on a first name basis with my patients."

"You said that I was your guest," Kagome pointed out. "Besides, if I'm going to spill my guts to someone, I think I should, at the very least, know their name."

"Hn," he replied noncommittally. "I will consider it."

"Well, don't take too long," Kagome told him as she stood. She gave him a wink. "You never know when someone will just disappear down a well and never return." She turned and started walking towards the door, but paused when he called her name and turned back to him.

He cleared his throat and gestured towards the sword she still clutched in her hands. "I believe you have something of mine."

Kagome tensed when he stepped out from behind his desk and started walking towards her. Her grip on the sword tightened. She didn't want to let it go. It was her connection to the past, the link to her memories and this world. She was afraid of what it would mean to let it go. And it still bothered her that it wasn't Sesshomaru that was in possession of the fang. It just seemed wrong to her to hand it over to someone else, someone who wouldn't even acknowledge his youkai heritage, who would deny the love and sacrifice that Tenseiga represented.

Her gaze drifted down to the fang. Tenseiga. A sword crafted for healing, for saving lost souls. It occurred to her suddenly how right it seemed that it might belong to a doctor in this time, someone who had dedicated their life to healing those who could not heal themselves. Perhaps, she thought, that there was more to Dr. Taisho's success with his patients than simply his knowledge of the mind. Perhaps he could be so effective at saving those who were lost because he held the beckon of light to call them back from where they wandered. Perhaps, just perhaps, it was his call that Tenseiga answered to now.

"Who are you?" she asked again, her voice soft and distant, drifting through the air between them as though caught on a breeze.

He didn't answer, and Kagome grew agitated. Her eyes hardened and her grip on the sword shifted. Drawing it out with a firm grip on its hilt, she pointed the blade directly at him. "I should use it," she said angrily. "That way there could be no more denying the truth of what I've said, or of what you are."

He released a heavy breath of frustration and shook his head. "What would it prove, Kagome? You believe what you say. Nothing could convince you that I am not what you have said. This being so, why wouldn't the sword work as you believe it will? Why wouldn't you see it cut without cutting? It would prove nothing, nor would it affirm anything."

"See," Kagome said tersely with a slight shake of the sword in her hand to emphasize her point, "and that's why I don't like talking to you Shrink Wraps. Everything and anything can be turned around to be all something made of the mind."

"The mind is a mysterious thing," Taisho replied evenly. "It is capable of so much more than we know."

"You know what I think? I think you're trying to put this on me to get me away from asking questions about you. But I know something that you don't, _Dr. Taisho_. I know my own heart. And no matter how strong a weapon can be made of the mind, the heart is stronger still."

Without another word, she turned the blade of the sword on herself, its point lined up directly on a path to her heart. She didn't think, didn't even breathe as she plunged it home.

Nothing.

Kagome blinked and looked up, only to find that the sword was no longer in her hands. Taisho stood beside her, having closed the distance between them faster than she could have registered his movement, and in his hand lay the Fang of Heaven, alight with brilliance and power.

His eyes narrowed angrily on her, holding a hint of disapproval in the golden depths. "That was unwise," he said quietly; but his voice was no longer soft and soothing, it was hard and thick with unforgiving ice. He turned away from her abruptly, carrying the fang back to its resting place upon the desk. "Our session is complete," he bit out without turning to face her. "I suggest you attend to your needs and gather your rest before we continue."

The stiffness of his posture gave him a hard edge, and Kagome was wary of it. But even more, she could feel the unrest around him as his aura cracked and seared with burning waves of unrest. She wanted to say something, but her words failed her.

What had happened? Why would he be so angry when she was only trying to expose the truth? Why couldn't he just tell her who he was, what his connection was with her past and the people in it? What was he keeping from her? And why was it so important to him that she not know? What was she missing?

She had no answers to her questions, but she knew that she couldn't leave until he had found them. He knew something, something that would change everything. And she would find out what it was.

Turning silently, Kagome left Taisho's office. There would be time for discoveries later. If she had learned anything on her journey, it was that time always found its way back to its beginnings. No secret could lay buried forever. In time, all truths were revealed.

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Let's have a vote…because…because I fell like it ;P

How many of you think Kagome really is crazy, that all of her memories are just dreams and Dr. Taisho is only an extension of her 'delusions'?

I was thinking that it could be possible. And also wondering how long I should continue the pretense that she is…if she's not. Of course, Shadow has her own ideas of what is going to happen, but I was just curious of what others thought would be an interesting direction to take this story.

Well, I'll leave it with you then.

Till next time

Shadow


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was late in the afternoon. The sun was slipping steadily towards the far reaches of the horizon and beginning to turn the blue of the sky a deep indigo as it bathed the land in the warmest yellow glow. Faint wisps of clouds that traced through the far reaches of the sky became wrapped in blazing color, holding on to the shades of red and orange, trapping them in the suspended moment just before the light would fade.

Kagome had wandered into the gardens after having seen her mother off. She just didn't feel right having her here, under the roof a youkai, especially one so powerful and so mysterious. It wasn't exactly that she feared he would bring them harm; it was more that she just couldn't bear to have her mother dragged into her wars. Not again.

Ignorance is bliss, they say. How many times, when she had seen unbelievable horrors or been just barely survived by a devastating attack released by an immortal, how many times had she wished that she had never known this world, that she could go back to her blissful ignorance.

No. Her mother hadn't believed because she couldn't, because she could never accept that her world was not as she would have it seem. So very few could. They saw the world in a covering of light, oblivious to the dark nature that ran through its core. They had seen blood and war, senseless death and unbearable tragedy. They simply couldn't take any more. So they had closed their eyes, stopped seeing the world hidden in the shadows, if only to keep their dreams in the light.

But Miya had seen once. She had believed. She had always been so supportive about it, had always been the one to go to for advice when the demon world had simply become too much or when her heart ached for a love that could never be. How could she have forgotten? How could she have allowed her eyes to close on the truth?

Shaking her head, Kagome tried to bring herself away from her tumbling thoughts. Instead, she focused on the beauty around her. The garden was alive with nature's gift. Beautiful, fragrant blossoms; tall, exotic grasses; shrubbery in every shade of green and red and even blue; and soft, thick grass that pressed under your feet as though you were walking on a down blanket, surrounded her in every direction.

She strolled slowly along the winding beds of growth, following the path towards a babbling stream that wandered in a lazy wind towards the central pond. In the crystal water, the bright flash of scales shimmered gold in the covering light. Moving closer, Kagome kneeled down to trace her finger through the still waters. It was cool to the touch but refreshing, and she giggled happily to herself when a curious fish came to inspect the spreading ripples and brushed its slicked scaled against her fingers.

But a shift in the air made Kagome pause in her games. She looked up, sweeping over the garden with her eyes as well as her hidden senses. She felt it again, a shifting of the air, a movement of power. Focusing on it, she realized that it was Him. He was leaving the house, but not to the cars parked in the garage out front. He had entered the rear garden.

Curiously, Kagome got to her feet and began following. She came to the edge of the soft gardens and found herself looking out at a great field surrounded on all sides by a thick forest. But she had no time to go exploring in the woods. He was moving faster now, and she had to concentrate to be able to set apart his aura from the strong presence of him covering the house and the grounds.

Moving quickly, she followed his trail into the nearest section of trees, taking a small path that had been cut from the undergrowth and laid with small white pebbles that crunched underfoot. He would know she was following him. She knew this. But she knew as well that he would know she _could_ follow him.

He was leading her somewhere.

Gradually, the trees siding the path began to thin out. The thickness of the undergrowth and the tight cluster of leaves overhead began to part away, allowing the fading light to slip through the cracks in long streams of golden light. The ground at her feet took on a gradual slope, the small path leading her upwards and closer to the one she sought. When the canopy of leaves had finally cleared away and no longer blocked the view, she could see the crest of the small hill as the clearing opened around it.

He stood at the top, his long hair let loose and swaying gently in the evening's breeze and catching the light of the sun in sharp glints of silver and gold. Making her way towards him slowly, Kagome found it difficult to breathe. He wasn't looking at her, and from the distance between them it was so easy to see him as someone else, someone she had known, someone she had loved.

As she neared though, she began to see another image on the hill. There, rising from the ground in a silhouette of streaming light, sat an angel. She was carved of marble so white it seemed to glow with radiance. Her wings spread from her delicate shoulders like those of swan, soft and graceful, ready to take flight. Her face too had been turned to the heavens, basking in the ethereal glow. But it was the face of a child, sweet and peaceful, radiating an eternal joy.

"She's so beautiful," Kagome whispered in awe as she stepped closer.

"My eldest has a gift for the delicate arts," Taisho replied without turning.

"Another child?" Kagome asked curiously.

Taisho nodded. "He made this for her."

"For who?"

"My granddaughter."

Gasping softly at the realization of what this statue marked, Kagome's eyes filled with gentle compassion. She looked upon the angelic face of the girl-child with new eyes, seeing in the intricate carving of the stone the time and care that had been taken to mark every feature, every soft line. It was her. The girl that had died lived on in their memories, her image forever preserved for their loving eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered reverently.

"So am I," he lamented sadly. Breathing out a heavy breath, he lifted his hand from his side to reveal the sword he held to Kagome. "If this sword could bring people back from the dead," he said quietly, still not meeting her eyes, "then she would not be here now."

Kagome shook her head. "I don't understand. I've seen Tenseiga work with my own eyes."

His hand tightened around the hilt of the sword, and from the side Kagome could see the tight clenching of his jaw as he set it against expressing his emotions. "Some souls the gods would keep for themselves."

_It didn't work…_ Kagome understood what it was he was saying, even though he had never said the words. But why? Why would the power of Tenseiga be denied? Surely he would have had the strength to use it. She had felt the sword react to him, surge to life with his touch. Why would it have denied him when he so obviously loved the girl?

_Unless…_ He had been so careless, so completely unbothered when she had turned the sword on him. But when she had turned it on herself, he had stopped her. It had taken him breaking from his cast of humanity to do it, but he had used his unnatural speed to make sure the blade would never cut her skin.

_Why…_ But she knew why. Because of who she was. Because of _what_ she was. She was a miko. Her body and blood were blessed, charged with sacred energy. What would it mean to have the fang of a youkai pass through her flesh? What would it do to her? To it?

Had this girl been a miko as well? Had Tenseiga been unable to save her because of her calling?

But…if the girl had been a miko, then she would have had to be human. Or maybe…mostly human.

"Tell me something to smile for," he asked quietly of her, breaking her from her thoughts.

Kagome softened to the hushed tone of his voice. Though still steady in its smooth tenor, there was a haunting undertone that spoke to her heart. She could tell that it pained him to be here, to speak of her, to be reminded that he couldn't save her. She knew that he was looking at an ending; but she would tell him of a new beginning.

"A child," she said softly. "Ripped from her family and bound by pain so strong it stripped her of her voice, she still found it in her little heart to give care to a fallen angel. Though he did not take her offers of food or water, still she returned time and again to offer her help. But it was her smile that had brightened his dark nights, and when he discovered that her radiance had been lost to the world, he lifted the Fang of Heaven and brought her back to him. And she had laughed and played again, filling every day and every moment with her joyful exuberance and her radiant smiles. She had been given new life, but then, so had he. It was the love of a child that melted the ice surrounding the heart of the Assassin, of the Killing Perfection."

Turning to look at her for the first time since they had started speaking, Taisho smiled faintly. "Thank you, Kagome." But the pain still lingered in his eyes. It dulled the surfaces of the golden oceans with sad tides of memories past but not forgotten. "You speak of him often," he observed in a distant voice as his eyes drifted back to the stone angel. "But yet you say it was Inuyasha you fought with, not Sesshomaru."

Nodding weakly, Kagome replied, "Sometimes it is difficult to talk about those closest to our hearts. Especially when they have been taken from us."

"Yes," he sighed. "Especially then."

Silence descended upon them. They stood upon the hill in the last of the fading day, both lost in memories of the past. Minutes ticked by with no more notice than the soft brush of the breeze as it carried away the heat of yet another day and brought in the cool of the night. There was peace to be found in the hearts of those who had lost much but found solace in the knowledge that they no longer walked alone, a soft tranquility that was as serene as the cherub face of the child-angel that gazed upon the heavens from her place on earth's ground.

It was Kagome that broke the quiet reverie. "May I say a prayer for her?" she asked quietly.

Giving her a slight nod of approval, Taisho moved to the side to give the young priestess room to kneel before the statue. Kagome settled herself down in a now well known position and prepared to give her blessing to the dead. But before she began her prayer, she looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"What was her name?"

The mask concealing his emotions shattered in that instant, allowing the pain to break through in twisting anguish. He looked away from her quickly, unable to continue seeing the soft compassion that shimmered in the sapphire of her eyes.

And in a voice so small it was nothing but a whisper on the breeze, he replied, "Kagome."

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HaHa! What a bomb that was to drop! I wanted to make this chapter a little longer, but I just couldn't go on with such a perfectly diabolical cliffy like that :)

Thank you everyone who shared your ideas and opinions with me after the last chapter. I know there was some rather strong reactions to my question of Kagome's sanity, and I really appreciated your responses, almost as much as I enjoyed reading all of the different interpretations of what could possibly be causing the discrepancy in her current time. Lol, though I have to admit it would be rather amusing to have at least some credit given to mental instability in this story, I think it is fair to tell you all that I have no intentions of doing so…not right now anyways XD. Of course, that isn't saying that I plan on putting everything out in the open just yet either…but perhaps I will eventually ;P

Well, I'm off for now.

Later

Shadow


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Where is it?" Kagome hissed in annoyance as she tugged yet another book off the elaborate bookshelf in Taisho's study. Growling in frustration when book number two hundred and sixty three didn't pan out, she tossed it over her shoulder and ran her hand through her bangs, fluffing up the ebony stands into a puffy nightmare before shaking her head sharply to return some semblance of order and turning back to the shelving unit. "It has to be here somewhere," she bit out.

She was determined to solve the mystery of Dr. Taisho.

After his revelation to her at the memorial to his granddaughter, he had left Kagome to her own devices. Recovering from her obvious shock that the girl had the same name as her, she had given her a proper prayer in reverence and respect, asking that the gods watch over and keep the girl now left to their embrace. But when her prayer was finished, Taisho was nowhere to be found.

Of course, there was a part of her that understood his wanting to distance himself for the moment, but that part of her was majorly outvoted by the much larger part that was thoroughly annoyed if not downright pissed off that he had just dropped a bomb like that on her and then taken off without offering any sort of explanation about the connection between them. Oh, and she knew there was a connection. She knew that it wasn't just a fluke that she and this girl shared the same name. She knew it because if it were just coincidence, Taisho would not have been as unsettled as he was or would have at the very least offered some words to say that there was no relation.

Now, more than ever, she knew he was keeping something from her. And that something, she knew, was huge. The mystery of who he really was, the connection that she shared with him and his family, the past she had been a part of and the present she had changed; the truth of all of it was being kept from her, just out of her grasp. And she WAS going to find it.

And that was how, after having made her way back to the main house, taking the offer of dinner so graciously offered to her by one of the many servants that cared for the grand estate, and being shown to the gorgeous room that was to be hers during her stay where she was to retire for the evening; that she had snuck out into the house and began exploring, eventually finding her way back to Taisho's study. And now she was currently ripping his bookshelves apart in a sad attempt to locate one of those famous hidden passageway that were so often purported to be concealed in grand old estates such as this one.

Ok, so she was being a snoop, a terribly messy snoop that was creating enough of a ruckus to wake the dead, but damnit! She was sick of being lied to and she was determined to find the truth! Besides, his dogginess was no where to be found, and he HAD said that she could have free reign of his house while she was there. He simply hadn't been specific enough about how far she was allowed to take that reign.

Another book was sent flying over her shoulder and across the room after it too had failed to reveal a hidden latch or secret mechanism. "Damn!" She was getting nowhere with this. Giving herself a moment, Kagome stepped back from the wall of books and glared at it angrily. Where was it? She knew there was something off about this room. She could just _feel _it. And, since her senses hadn't ever led her astray, she trusted what they were telling her.

Her eyes drifted across the wall of books slowly, but always were they drawn back to the central point and the rock mantle of the oversized fireplace. She had already checked it many times, running her hands along the acid-smoothed stones, looking for a leaver, a depression, something that was out of place or out of sync with the rest of the carved surface. But she had found nothing. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had missed something, that there was more to what she was seeing.

She scanned over the mantle, looking with a critical eye at each of the objects decorating the shelf. Ming vases, impossibly old and no doubt worth a small fortune, jewel encrusted dragons from every dynasty made from the finest jade and onyx, crystal glass holding large deco feathers gilded in gold. It was a small treasure trove, but with nothing of use.

"It has to be here," she said out loud, more to convince herself than anything.

But, refusing to give up, and having already torn the place apart anyways, she stepped determinedly towards the fireplace. She ran her hands up along the stone on the right side of the flue, looking again for anything that was out of place. When she reached the height of the mantle, she stood on her tip-toes and traced along the edge with her fingers, feeling her way where she couldn't see.

"Looking for something?"

"KIYAAA!"

Her shrill scream echoed loudly through the darkened room, ringing in her ears almost a loudly as the heavy pounding of her heart. And in her haste to turn to the sound of the voice, her arm caught against one of the ornamental vases set upon the mantle. She watched wide-eyed as the vase toppled and fell, seeming as though it had been stilled in slow-life on its path towards the floor. But no matter how slow the passage seemed, she wasn't quick enough to do anything to stop it. The vase impacted against the polished wood of the floor, shattering so forcefully that it seemed to explode, shooting shards of painted porcelain in every direction.

For a moment, all Kagome could do was stare in disbelief at the destruction. The object had been priceless, but now lay as nothing but a shattered mess; its beauty, hand crafted by endless hours of painstaking work to achieve the mortal equivalent of perfection, reduced to rubble in only seconds.

She blinked hard to pull herself out of her induced stupor. Giving her head a sharp shake, she snapped her attention up to the intruder. "You could have prevented that," she snapped irritably.

He lifted an eyebrow in a bored fashion. "You accuse me when it is you that has been tearing through my personal office so loutishly?"

Sniffing defensively, she replied, "I wouldn't be doing this if you weren't so bloody protective of whatever secret you've been keeping. Besides, you knew I was in here. I've felt the presence of your guards ever since I left my room." She smiled slyly. "It was so nice of you to tell them to give me a wide birth. Then again, it probably is for the best. Good help is so hard to find these days. We wouldn't want your maids cleaning yours up off the carpet after having an unfortunate run-in with one of my arrows." He blinked in surprise and her smile grew. She gestured over to his desk where, resting neatly beside Tenseiga, lay the bow and quiver of arrows she had 'borrowed' from one of the armory displays in the large dojo so conveniently located just down the hallway from Taisho's office. "I just found them lying around," she told him with false innocence. "It seemed such a waste to have such a lovely set go unused."

"You have been productive," he intoned dryly.

"Well, that's what you get when you take off to God knows where and leave a miko the free reign of your den."

"Den?"

Kagome scowled. "Would you cut that out already? It is far too late to be arguing with you about your obvious ancestral decent."

"Actually," Taisho corrected. "It is not late, but rather quite early."

"Really?" Sneaking a look out of the wall of windows, Kagome caught the first hints of grey seeding into the dark reaches of the night sky. "Aw man!" she whined in exacerbation. "I've been at this all night!" Huffing loudly, she planted her hands on her hips and wheeled back to face the youkai. "Well, if you insist on being here, you might as well help me. Where is it?"

"You will have to forgive me," he told her with a tired release of breath, "but am I supposed to know to what you are referring?"

Kagome narrowed her eyes sharply. "I hate you," she bit out frigidly before turning back to the fire mantle to resume her search.

Only this time, instead of flinging hard-covered copies of various books around the room, she carelessly began picking up the ridiculously expensive ornaments decorating the mantle and tossing them over her shoulder towards Taisho. She smirked to herself as she was doing it. He could catch them if he tried. Sure, any normal man might have had to juggle with them a bit, especially given her less than perfect aim, but he wasn't a man at all.

Besides, it just wasn't healthy to lock away so much power. If he didn't let it out now and then, he might end up exploding or something. And she really did NOT want to be around when that happened. The guy was scary powerful. She was lucky, she supposed, in some twisted sort of way, that he hadn't been on her 'enemy' list in the Feudal Era. She was sure that Dr. Taisho, or whoever he really was, would have even given Sesshomaru a run for his money.

"Scary," she whispered to no one in particular in response to her line of thought. But she shrugged it off quickly, tossing an ornate dragon roughly the size of a ferret over her shoulder as she did so.

"Kagome."

She paused in her search, turning slightly to watch as he set the dragon she had just tossed neatly on the mantle. The look in his eyes was one of firm displeasure, but she was completely heedless of it. She lifted an eyebrow in challenge, daring him to say anything about her chosen course of action, but he just looked at her, the piercing gold of his eyes so focused and so sharp in the deep shadows of the room that they seemed to cut the distance between them like a blade of fire.

"This is hardly civilized behavior," he told her in a tone that sounded far too fatherly for her liking. She narrowed her eyes, but he continued anyways. "Would you be very appreciative if I were to come into your home and create such a disturbance?"

"Pft!" she snorted. "Be my guest. We've been needing a reno for years! Besides…" She picked up the dragon he had just reset on the mantle, looking over it curiously, taking note of the sparkling sapphire eyes, the ruby red of its forked tongue, and the emerald studs that rimmed the crest of its onyx scaled back. "We never had such expensive stuff to throw around. I think I could get used to this." And just like that, she tossed the dragon over her shoulder once again. It hit the floorboards behind her with a solid _thud_, the heavy onyx of the carving much more durable than the delicate clay of the broken vase at her feet.

A barely audible sigh from Taisho made Kagome pause mid-reach to one of the crystalline vases. "I believe," he started slowly as he reached his hand up to brush against the stone mantle, "that you are looking for this."

His hand tightened against the stone and, for an instant, Kagome could see a flicker of crimson fires dancing across his fingertips. She took in a sharp breath when she heard a grinding scrape against the stone. His claws. That was why there was no leaver to pull or no false stone to press. The locking mechanism was buried within the stone, only accessible by the deadly lengths of his claws.

The sharp _snick_ of a lock unhitching sounded out through the muffling stone that surrounded it, and instantly the wall of shelving just to the right of the fireplace shifted.

"Does that make you happy, Kagome?" Taisho asked stonily as he stepped back from the mantle to give her a path to the newly opened passageway.

"Yes, thank you." Kagome replied flippantly. She lifted her nose snootily in the air and strutted her way towards the wall. It came to her touch easily, giving way with only the slightest pressure and swinging wide to reveal a darkened hallway nestled between the framing of the house. The air was stale and musty from having been closed off for so long, and cobwebs hung in great sprawling nets from every nook and cranny.

Kagome shivered. Dark, musty, and full of spiders was not exactly her idea of fun. But, taking in a deep breath, she steeled her resolve and took a determined step forward.

"OWIE!" she wailed loudly, stumbling back from the passageway. Bringing a hand up to rub her aching nose, she looked bewilderedly back at the entrance. It felt as though she had just walked nose-first into a brick wall…a brick wall that left a dark tingling against her senses. Her eyes narrowed in fury and she wheeled about to face a smirking Taisho. "You could have warned me about the barrier!" she hissed out venomously.

He shrugged passively. "You could have been more respectful of my privacy."

"Oh, that's it!" With determined strides, Kagome spun around and made her way over to the desk. She picked up her bow, stringing and setting it with practiced ease, and leveling the sharp point of the arrow on a direct course towards Taisho. "One way or the other," she informed him in a voice dark with promise, "I WILL find out what you are keeping from me."

A fluid shift of her arm turned her arrow only a fraction of a second before she released. Instantly the room was filled with a blinding surge of pure magic. It radiated from the path of her arrow, leaving nothing but the purest of ash in its wake. When it collided with the barrier the whole building shook at its foundations from the force of the impact of sacred energies against the dark fires of a youkai spirit. The powers resonated against each other, sending furious vibrations skidding through the air in turbulent pulses.

But then, just before the whit-hot burn of purity began to ebb from the arrow, the barrier sagged inwards under the weight against it. The strong vibration carried through the air began to subside, and the hot glow of energies slowly faded, allowing the suspended arrow to drop aimlessly to the floor.

"Huh," Kagome grunted vaguely. "Well, that usually doesn't happen." She turned to Taisho and smiled. "I guess that just means you really are as strong as I figured."

"Astounding," Taisho replied in a bored tone. "Now, if you are about finished, it has been quite a long night and I believe we could both use some rest."

"You've got to be kidding me! You think that I'm just going to give up now that I'm so close to the truth? What a load of crap! This is so not over yet!"

Marching forwards towards the barrier, Kagome set her hands on the invisible surface. She could feel the burning sting of the energy coursing through it as it flowed beneath her fingers, but as she traced along its surface she could also feel the slight indent created by her arrow. It had weakened. Smirking, she looked over her shoulder to Taisho. "I may not be very well trained," she told him smugly, "but I've learned a thing or two about my powers in the time that I've had them. And after the battle with Naraku, not even Kikyo in her prime could hold bets over me."

Turning back to the barrier, Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated on bringing her powers to bear. She could feel them stirring inside of her, warm currents of energy that wrapped around her entire being in soothing layers. She willed them to come to the surface, to flow out of her body, detach from her spirit, and cast their light against the dark fires.

There was no impact, no explosion of energy, no terrible pulses of heat and turbulence. There was only the soft warmth of the glow that surrounded her. And in response, the seal place upon the secret passageway began to burn. Crimson fires licked up from the floor and the walls, an impenetrable barrier of wild heat and restless power. But she didn't feel the heat, wasn't intimidated by the power. She spoke to it; using her light and her soothing warmth she calmed the restless dance of the flames. One by one, they began to flicker out, freeing the passage to the child of purity and light.

When the last of the flames had died to nothing but glowing ambers fading from even her enhanced vision, Kagome smiled brightly in triumph and stepped forward.

"If you go, there is no turning back."

Taisho's warning made her pause. She looked back to him, but her eyes were troubled, a dark uncertainty swirling in the sapphire depths. "Why is it so important to you that I be kept from the truth?" she asked him quietly. "Why go to such lengths when I can see that it pains you to do so?"

"Pain is inevitable," he said solemnly. "It is what lets us know we are alive. But it is regret that weakens our resolve, and the wish to have done things differently that steals away our sanity. Do you believe that this truth you seek will give you any more comfort once found? Do you think that by walking into that dark space you will find a light you have been denied? Do you, Kagome?"

She blinked at the sudden hardness in his tone. Shaking her head hesitantly, she replied, "I just…I just want the truth. I…need to know what happened. I can't go on without ever knowing. I can't face this future without knowing my past was real."

"Isn't it enough that you believe?" he asked a he took a slow step forward. "Knowing what happened will not bring them back to you." He stepped closer again, closing the distance between them. "It will not bring Him back to you."

Sniffing quietly, Kagome looked up to meet his eyes. So similar to those of the hanyou boy that she had loved, but so different as well. Where Inuyasha's eyes were always troubled, always searching anxiously for a new threat, another strike from the world that could never accept his hanyou blood; His were the eyes of one who had taken on the world and walked away still standing tall. There was strength and assurance in the piercing gold of his eyes, but there was a darkness as well, a clash of amber in the golden depths that spoke of too many horrors, of too much pain.

What was it that he had seen that could bring such a powerful force to hold such deep regret? And why was it for her that he would share these pains?

Perhaps because they had both fought the battles only to loose their hearts to the war. Perhaps because her past was his as well. Perhaps because he too knew what it was to have a family formed against all odds to be stolen away by something much greater than they could ever be. But then, perhaps it was simply that he could hear in the silence between her words that her heart was calling out for someone who could heal the wounds still bleeding freely.

"I loved him." She whispered the words of her confession in a trembling voice, and as she did a lone tear slipped down from the crystal blue of her eyes.

"I know," he soothed as he reached out to brush away the glistening path of moisture.

She closed her eyes tightly and turned away from his touch. "But he loved her."

"Another broken heart in your Feudal fairytale?" He reached out again, tilting her chin gently to lift her eyes back to his own. "When will you find your happy ending, Kagome?"

"Do I deserve a happy ending?" she asked him instead. "How can I know if I am kept from the truth?"

"Truth can be a poison, bitter like dragon's tears."

She reached up and placed her hand over his, allowing her eyes to close for a moment as she felt the heat of his touch. But as her eyes opened, she was brought back to the present. She pulled away, smiling a sad, watery smile. "Tears can be sweet, if they come from the heart," she whispered in response.

"There is nothing I can do to stop you?"

"You could tell me what I want to know."

But he shook his head. "I can not."

"Why?"

"Don't you know, Kagome?" She shook her head in confusion, and he breathed in deeply, letting it slide out in a long sigh before saying, "Sometimes, our words simply are not enough. Sometimes, the only way to believing is seeing with our own eyes."

"Then why are you still trying to keep me from seeing?"

"Sometimes, what we find when our eyes have been opened is not what we have expected. And sometimes we are not prepared to face the truth."

She had heard what he said, and she understood that he was trying to protect her from the pain of the truth. But she couldn't turn back now. "I'm willing to take that risk," she told him as she turned back to the passageway.

"Perhaps you are," he said softly as he watched her step into the dark shadows. He sighed and closed his eyes, leaving his last words as a haunting echo in the empty room. "But perhaps I am not."

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Ano…. I can't think of anything to say after this chapter….So…..I guess I'll just say….Please Review :)

Till next time

Shadow


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Left or right?

Kagome stood at a crossing within the hidden passageway. In her hand, the bow she still carried glowed with a gentle blue light that only gave enough illumination to show her the path ahead, but which cast long shadows within the tight space and always seemed to give the illusion of something moving just beyond her vision.

Much to her chagrin, she had found that the dark hallway spread throughout the entire estate. There were access points from several different rooms, some where thin bands of faded light could be seen seeping through the cracks of the access panels, but most that had been blocked or boarded up long ago. She had been wandering through the small space for some time, taking whichever path seemed more traveled or had the least obstructed way forward – saving herself from the ever-present threat of getting a mouthful of spider web or heaven forbid stepping right into a concealed nest of the nasty things.

Once, she had come across a dangerously unstable set of stairs leading to the upper floors, but she had passed it by, not wanting to risk the ascent when she was nearly certain that whatever she was looking for would be concealed below. But she had been wandering the tangle of passageways for so long that she couldn't be certain anymore what part of the house she was in, or even if she had traveled the passages before.

And again she found herself standing at a crossroads, having to make a choice as to which path she would follow.

"Choices, choices." Taisho's voice sounded out from somewhere beyond the dark.

Kagome scowled darkly. "This would be so much easier if you would just tell me where to go!" she hissed out, her agitation so strong that it coursed through her and surged outwards in the light of her powers and carried a distance down the dark corridor.

"Now, Kagome," his voice, calm and even, seeming to come from everywhere at once. "There is no need to yell. I am here."

"I know you're there!" she snapped irritably. "I can feel you, you baka! You've been following me ever since I stepped in here! So why don't you disentangle yourself from those shadows and do something of use?!"

"And what would you have me do? You have been so intent on finding whatever it is you are looking for that you do not hear anything that I would say."

Growling in annoyance, Kagome swept her eyes through the shadows to try and pinpoint where his voice was coming from. "You mistake not listening to your lies for not listening at all," she said into the dark.

"Have I lied, Kagome?"

"Maybe not with your words," she bit out angrily. "But your silence speaks for you, as well."

"Then I am to be guilty of silence?" He laughed, but the sound was bitter, hollow. "There are worse thing I could be guilty of."

Unnerved by the chilling echo of his mirthless laughter, Kagome clenched her bow more tightly in her hands. "Please," she tried in desperation, "Just tell me which way to go."

"A trade then." He stepped closer to her, moving from the darkness as silently as a phantom; but still the shadows clung to him, leaving him always partially concealed. It was his eyes that stood out from the cloak of concealment, illuminated by every tiny stem of light in the dark corridor dancing on millions of flecks of gold. He gestured absently down the corridor to the right before turning and walking down it, leading her towards what she had been searching for. "Tell me of a choice made, Kagome," he asked as he walked.

For a moment, she hesitated; uncertain of what he was asking for, and even more so of why he would be asking. She had made so many choices. So many. And no one could ever truly convey the meaning it should. No one could ever truly be accounted for without so many before it, and so many after. But, finally, she decided to tell him of her first choice, the first choice that led her on her journey, the first choice of so many that had brought her to where she was today.

"They told me not to do it. They said that he was dangerous, that I shouldn't trust him. But I made my choice." She chanced a look over at the silent youkai walking beside her, wondering again why he would want to hear her story of the past when he was trying so hard to keep his buried. A slight shifting of his mane of silver hair caught in the light and drew her eye. She looked longingly at the strands of silver, feeling a nearly overwhelming need to reach out and touch them just to be certain they were real. "He looked so much like you," she whispered softly. But she quickly forced herself to look away.

"When I first saw him, I thought he was a boy; but he was more than a boy, and he hadn't been sleeping when I found him. He had been sealed. They had called him a demon. No," she corrected with a long, wistful sigh, "they called him a hanyou. They had taken me away from him, away from his forest and the well that had brought me to it. But then, the centipede youkai that had dragged me through the well attacked the village that had taken me in. In an attempt to lure her away from the villagers, I ran towards the forest and the well we had both emerged from. But she was too fast, and she caught up with me, nearly striking me down with her attack. It was at his feet that I landed. But unlike the first time I had seen him, he was awake. The demon following me attacked again, trapping me and him together against the tree to which he had been sealed. He asked me then, if I could remove the arrow that had sealed him."

She paused for a moment, taking in a few long breaths to keep her voice from failing her before continuing. "He asked me to do it. They told me not to. But I made my choice. I chose him. I chose to free Inuyasha." Shrugging to try and relieve her shoulders of their heaviness, she finished, "And the rest is history."

Taisho stopped abruptly in front of her, and Kagome was so lost in her memories of the past that she nearly ran into him.

"We are here," he said in a cool, measured voice. "Kagome…"

"No, please," she interrupted him. "Please, let's just get this over with."

His eyes locked onto hers for a moment, searching for something, though she couldn't say what. But then he nodded shortly to her and turned towards a section of the wall. In the dark shadows of the corridor, it had seemed like every other wall she had passed, but when Taisho reached up to the crossing of the rafters and pulled down on the latch, the wooden boards groaned and creaked and split open to reveal another passageway.

Even the darkness of the corridor was nothing compared to what awaited here. The passage lead downwards, cut through the stone foundations of the estate. There were stairs ahead, just barely visible by her light in the gloom.

Without saying another word, Taisho moved forward. The passage hadn't been traversed in countless years and he had no light to guide him, but he moved forward steadily and without pause.

Kagome followed him, though much more cautiously. The stone was damp with condensation, the cool of the rock causing the heavy moisture of the summer's humidity to settle on the stone making the passage slippery and dangerous. But she had been in slippery situations before, so she was not put off in the slightest, only made more cautious of her footfalls and more aware of the easy pace of his.

But though his steps were sure, she could see in the stiffness of his posture and feel in the hard edge of his aura that this place unsettled him. Whatever lay ahead was something that he had hoped would stay buried, but she had forced his hand, she had made another choice and would have to face the consequences.

They completed their decent, and Taisho continued leading her through the dank passage of stone, following a course he knew too well, picking it from a webbed tangle of passageways that led in all directions. After what seemed like hours, though likely having only been minutes, he stopped in front of a large metal door. Kagome moved to stand beside him, but gasped softly when she saw the mural that had been guided on the surface.

"It can't be…" she whispered in disbelief.

"Is this not what you wanted, Kagome?" he asked from her side. "You speak so well of the legend. But I have heard it as well. Three swords of power to rule the world."

She reached out slowly with a trembling hand to trace along the sleek line of the curving blade depicted on the door's dark surface. "Tetsusaiga…"

"Open the door, Kagome."

She drew in a sharp breath and pulled her hand back to her side. "I…"

"You were so ready for the truth," he said when her words failed her. "Have you changed your mind?"

Had she? She had wanted to know what happened to her past, wanted to know what became of the ones that she had shared so much with. But somehow, she hadn't been prepared for this. She hadn't been ready to face this truth. She wasn't ready to say goodbye. Not to him.

"Open the door, Kagome," he said again, only this time his voice had hardened, had become a demand.

Closing her eyes tightly against her threatening tears, Kagome she shook her head. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bear the thought that He was…

Besides her, Taisho sighed. "Kagome," he called her name in a much gentler tone. "Tell me something of courage."

When his words reached her, she opened her eyes slowly. Unable to stop them, she could feel the hot path of her tears slipping down her cheeks. "No more crying," she said in a trembling voice. "I'll protect you."

Breathing in a shuddering breath, she forced herself to look back up to the image of the sword. "He said his blood was dirty. He said he was a taint to their bloodline. He said he was a disgrace. He wanted the sword. He wanted the power. But Sesshomaru could never pull the sword from its resting place. It was me, and I gave it to Inuyasha. In a fit of rage, Sesshomaru transformed. He was so massive, so terrifying. But Inuyasha was not afraid. He fought him even though it seemed that he could never win. And when I thought that there was no hope left, he told me not to cry because he would protect me. And he did. He defeated his brother, forced him into retreat by stealing his arm with the fang left to him by his father."

Stepping forward, she said, "He wasn't afraid."

She blinked back her tears, swallowed hard to clear her throat, took in a deep breath, then lifted her hands and pushed open the door.

The old hinges holding the heavy door creaked and grinded with every inch they gave way, filling the cloaked silence of the underground passage. When they had finally given way completely, a great chamber was revealed. The walls of rock rose up around them, disappearing into the darkness. But in the centre of the room, resting as it had been so long ago upon the pedestal warded against all demons' touch; was the Protector of Man, the Fang of the Earth.

Tetsusaiga.

"Oh God," she chocked out brokenly. Her body shook with tremor so powerful it caused her knees to buckle and she fell to the rock floor at her feet. But her eyes remained locked on the blade, seeing but not seeing, understanding but not willing to accept. Her hands clenched desperately at the floor, empty of the faith she had held onto for so long.

He was gone.

All along, since the beginning of her journey, she had known that when she returned to her own time that she would never see the hanyou boy again. But now even the faintest glimmer of hope was lost. Inuyasha would never have given up Tetsusaiga. He would have fought till his last breath to keep it in his rightful hands. And to see it here now meant only one thing.

Inuyasha was dead.

Her past was gone. And the truth of her present left her wishing that she had gone with it.

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Well, really, you had to have seen that one coming ;P But next chapter, I promise there will be some questions answered…err…or maybe just more raised. Meh, whatever. This story is being very productive for me, so I'm just going with it.

Anyways, it's late. I gotta get some sleep.

Night all.

Shadow


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_No more crying_. How he wished he could tell her that, wished that he could bring comfort to the girl that had turned his world upside down and who in turn had cracked and broken before his eyes. He wished he could tell her what she had wanted to hear, wished that the truth wasn't so painful. But there was more. He wished that he couldn't see the tears of the Dream Angel, tears that made her real, that told him of her pain and her sacrifice, of her suffering.

He didn't want to see, because seeing meant believing, and believing meant that what once had been a dream had become reality.

And she couldn't be real to him. Her pain could not be swept away by his hand. Her memories could not be made less real by his words. Her sacrifice, the broken heart of her Feudal fairytale, could not become his as well.

"Kagome," he called her name, his voice sounding so soulless to him over the broken sobs of her anguish. She spoke so often of demons and monsters, but never once had she looked upon him with fear or hatred for what she saw. But she should have, he thought. She should hate him. She should fear him. She should because he couldn't stand the thought of her fragile heart being broken any further because of the demons he kept buried in the past, the demons he would see destroyed forever.

"Come," he said as he kneeled down at her side. "It is time to step out of dark places and return to light."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, feeling the way her body trembled and shook even as she tried to muffle the sound of her sobs. She was listless, unresponsive to his touch. Her mind had locked down beneath her torment and in the face of such terrible truth.

But he couldn't allow this, couldn't allow her to break now, couldn't when the dream still had a chance of becoming something more, something better.

He pulled her closer, shifting her weight to lean against him as he lifted her from the cold stone floor. She came easily, too easily, her spirit so lost in her turmoil that it couldn't give life to her limbs. He could feel the tremors still coursing through her, the uneven heaving of her chest as it pressed against his; but he blocked it from his mind, wouldn't allow it to affect him.

This broken doll, this fallen angel; she cried in the present for the past, but for a past that had never been.

No. He couldn't believe. He couldn't allow himself to see her tears, to know her pain, to feel the gentle warmth of her touch. She who dreamed of the past, who had been a dream of the future; he couldn't allow himself to feel for her or all would be lost all over again.

He carried her from the dark depths of the underground, back through the passageways of the upper floors, and finally stepped out of the darkness and into the bright light of the morning. Warm trails of sunlight spilled into the office from the wall of windows, a reminder of life so badly needed after having spent so long in the dark memories of death. He breathed in deeply of the air that no longer was tinged with the heavy dampness and smells of the forgotten. But though the warmth surrounded him, inside he felt cold, as though he had carried the darkness of those caverns with him instead of the little priestess he held in his arms.

Breathing out again heavily, he looked down at her. Her features were so pale, the soft beauty of her face marred with the passage of her tears. Sweet, she had called them. He couldn't help but wonder if she would say so now. "Kagome," he called her name softly, watching as her eyes blinked against the brightness to take focus on him. They were so drawn, so tired, and so sad. "Will you be alright to walk?"

She nodded absently before she turned her gaze away again, looking out the windows at the warm light of the morning. But he could tell she wasn't seeing it. She was still lost in the past. He set her down on her feet carefully, cautious of how frail she seemed. The trembling of her body had stopped some time ago, but still she seemed as though even the softest of breezes would break her again.

"It's clean." Her tiny whisper sounded as though it had come from a phantom, her voice lost in another world.

Taisho spared a glance around at the tidy office before looking back to the little miko. He offered her a small, crooked smile. "The cleaning staff has earned their wages today."

"Hn." She nodded absently, oblivious or uncaring of his attempt to lighten her mood.

He sighed. "Come, Kagome. You need your rest."

He began walking to the door, and she followed behind him, a ghost lost in the world of the living. But he forced himself to not think of it, to not think of her pain, not think of her losses, not think of her, her past, or what he would make her future. He led her down the hallways of his estate, taking her to the back stairs where she could retire in her chambers on the upper floors without having to come close to the guards stationed nearer to the entrance. They knew he was with her and would leave them alone, but she had known their presence earlier and he wouldn't have her any more upset than she already was. It had been a long day for her, and she would need her rest for the trials to come in the days ahead.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he paused and looked back. She had stopped following him and was clinging to the banister with a vice-like grip. "Kagome, is there something wrong?"

She blinked, her eyes moving to find his slowly. "I'm fine," she said, and then finished climbing the stairs and started down the hallway ahead.

It was a lie. But it was more than the fact that a woman is never 'fine' when she says as much, and it was more than the fact that she had retreated into herself after having been so broken by her revelations earlier. No. He could see it in her eyes, in the way they took so long to focus from their distance and in the red that rimmed the irises that had not come from her tears.

She was sensing something, focusing on it. And she wouldn't tell him because she did not trust him to tell her the truth.

An angry vibration started in his throat, but he was quick to cut it off before it could turn into an audible sound. There would be time for that later. For now he had to see to her care. He took several long strides to catch up to her before settling into a steadier pace at her side. But he continued to watch her, and could still see the airy distance that she maintained. Had he not been looking for it, he may have thought it to be another symptom of her distress, but he was no longer being fooled. And more than that, he knew what it was she was sensing. He knew who it was.

"This is my room." Her voice was still small and distant, but there was a hardness to it that hadn't been there before, one born of mistrust. She reached out and opened the door. Stepping into the room she said, "Thank you, Dr. Taisho, but I'm tired now."

She hadn't looked back at him, nor did she as she closed the door behind her. For a time he remained where he was, listening to her movements on the other side of the door. But eventually, he knew that she had taken to the bed and her much needed rest, and he turned away and left her to it.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"You were careless," Taisho said in an accusing voice as he approached the other standing in wait upon the crest of hill that bore the memorial to his beloved granddaughter. "She knew you were there."

"A necessary risk."

Taisho rolled his eyes. "You mean you didn't think she would be able to sense you. She is far more powerful than you might imagine. She even broke through my barrier."

"Hn," the other replied vaguely. "Is she the one?"

Sighing heavily, Taisho looked upon the face of the angel. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"You know that I never experienced the dreams."

"Perhaps not the dreams, but what of your angel?"

"That is not the same. Do not pretend that it is."

"Kagome would say differently."

"Kagome?"

Taisho nodded solemnly. "It is her name."

"I see. And her dreams?"

"Real, I suspect. She knows too much." He paused for a moment, his face drawing tight with uncertainty. "But it isn't right. There is too much that is different."

"Is that not the point? Is it not your wish to have things differently?"

"I did…" Trailing off, Taisho allowed his eyes to drift upwards to the sky. "Have you been happy?" he asked suddenly.

"I am not dissatisfied."

Scowling, Taisho looked back to the other. "That's not what I asked." But, seeing no shift to the solid set of nonchalance of the other's features, he sighed. "It is the place of a father to want for his children's happiness."

"So you say."

Growing agitated at his son's nonchalance, Taisho growled, the sound so feral that a bird perch nearby startled and took off hastily into the skies. "Would you have me be as uncaring as you? Would you have me just forget that he died because he couldn't see the difference between the dream and reality anymore?" He lifted his hand, pointing towards the stone image of the angel. "Would you have me forget her as well?"

"Death is inevitable. You have lived long enough to realize this."

A fierce snarl erupted from Taisho as he wheeled on his boy and grabbed him roughly by the collar of his shirt. "I didn't ask for your advice, boy!"

"Of course not," he replied frigidly. "You will always do whatever suits your fancy for the moment."

Loosening his grip, Taisho stepped back from his son. He shook his head sadly. "Don't you see? Things could be different. For them. For you. It is not my life that I want to see changed. If it would mean for you to know true happiness, not some false pretense of satisfaction, then I would gladly give my life."

"So noble," the other scoffed. "But you are wrong. It is your life you would see changed. It is your guilt and your remorse that you can not live with. You would use her as your tool to see it done, and I will have no part of it."

He turned away, and Taisho wouldn't stop him. But he had to ask, "You care so little for any other of her kind. Why would it make a difference to you if she is as you say?"

A soft breeze washed through the clearing, stirring his silken strands of silver hair into their dance for an instant before they were overtaken by a surge of focused light. His form blurred, becoming lost in the swell of power. But in the instant before the light vanished, in the moment he still remained within the clearing, his voice carried back to his father and gave him hope.

"She has the smile of an angel."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kagome stood at the window of her room, looking out across the gardens. She had waited for him to leave before climbing out of the bed and taking to her silent vigil. Watching. Waiting. Knowing that what she had felt was real and needing to see it with her own eyes.

Her fingers trailed over the pane of glass wistfully, but it was not the beauty of the gardens below that she looked upon. It was the light that gave her something to smile for when she had thought her smiles would never come again. It was soft and sad, but still her smile carried with it some of the light within her that had been smothered by the darkness of her despair.

And from her lips slipped a name that to her was more of a prayer, the name of the one she knew had come only to leave again, but who had given her more in his mere presence than he would ever know.

"Sesshomaru."

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Mwahahahahaha! I should get a prize for being so wonderfully evil :) I know there are probably a lot of you out there wanting to wring my neck right about now to try and shake the plot bunnies out of me, but you can't! Haha! Lol you have to wait until the next chapter XD Really, there will be some answers to be found then.

But, till then, I'm off.

Later

Shadow


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kagome pushed back from the table and leaned heavily on the backrest of the chair she was sitting in, releasing a long, satisfied groan. "No more," she said aloud to the empty room. But even as she said it, her eyes drifted over to the towering stack of chocolate drizzled, sugar sprinkled, fluffy, buttery, mouth-watering, sinfully delicious pancakes that had been item number six on the 'What Kagome would like for breakfast' menu. Her mouth began watering again, and her right hand twitched in an effort to reach out to her prize.

"No!" she told herself firmly. "If I eat anymore, I'm going to turn into a butterball!"

Her fingers twitched again, and, groaning, she gave into the compulsion and reached out to scoop a large piece of the sticky, gooey, sugary, delightful goody into her mouth. She groan again as she chewed. It was flavorful, delightful, the best damn pancake she had ever had; but good Lord! She had already stuffed herself so full that she swore she was on the brink of exploding!

But she just couldn't help herself. When she had awoken early in the afternoon, a young attendant had come into her room to give her clean towels and a change of clothing for the day and had asked before she left what Kagome would like for breakfast. So, being the ever gracious guest that she was of the ridiculously wealthy Dr. Taisho, the two-faced, lying, deceitful, son-of-a-bitch that had played her for a complete fool; she had ordered everything she could possibly think of that would make for a nice, completely unhealthy, incredibly elaborate and expensive, and all around immensely satisfying breakfast.

Of course, the minute the kitchen staff began serving out her mountain of food that she had so selfishly ordered, she had immediately felt guilty for it…though not nearly guilty enough to not dig right in to the scores of delectable entrees laid out before her. She had spent the better part of an hour stuffing her face, and now, having forced herself away from the too-good-for-her-health pancakes, was looking out the bay window at the end of the dining hall and watching the bright play of the summer's sun against the beautiful blossoms of the gardens outside.

Her hands rubbed along her swollen belly absently as she lost herself to her thoughts.

Sleep had done wonders for her ability to reason through her situation. Though, if she were to be honest with herself, she would have had to admit that it hadn't been any measure of rest that had pulled her from the torment she had faced after finding Tetsusaiga sealed in the crypts below. It had been Him. Whether he had known or not, Sesshomaru had given her a reason to hold on to hope, a reason to believe that all of the sacrifices made in the past had been worth it. That he was here, in this time, that he had lived through the battles of the past they had shared; she had found a sort of peace in that.

Her lips tightened into an ironic grin. She wondered what he would think of being someone's hope, their reassurance, the one they had looked to for comfort to help make the hard edge of pain seem less sharp, cut less deep.

She could almost see it, the look on his face, the way his lips would compress with distain and his eyes would narrow in resentment. He would have himself be feared, looked to as a cold-blooded killer, a ruthless assassin, a ruler with an iron fist and an even stronger will. There was only one that she had ever known could make him softer, could strip the ice away from his eyes and his heart.

Kagome laughed shortly and shook her head. But not for her. No. Never for her. The miko that had traveled with his despised little brother, the one that had shot him with her arrows, had been there to see his humiliating defeat, had even been a target to his attacks. But he had been the blade of her salvation, as well. Though never admitting to it, never pretending that it was for her that he would do such things. No. He wouldn't. Perhaps he couldn't. At least, not before Rin. The girl had changed him, and it wasn't only Kagome that had seen it. But the girl was such a little angel that it was easy to understand. And how she had adored Sesshomaru, the love held in her little heart for even one as cold as him.

But it didn't make any sense. Why would Sesshomaru have been here? Why had he come? What had he spoken with Taisho about? How were they connected? Why would Tenseiga be here and not with Sesshomaru? Why would he allow Tetsusaiga to remain here as well?

Who was this Dr. Taisho?

_You know who I am._ That's what he had told her, but did she really? _Maybe,_ she thought. Maybe she did. Maybe her wish truly had changed so much.

But if he was who she thought…

_I have a son. All his life he was plagued with dreams, dreams so real that sometimes he couldn't separate them from reality._

He had called her experience a dream. Could it be possible that the son he spoke of had dreamed of the past she had changed? Had He remembered her even though everyone else had forgotten?

_Inuyasha…_

It couldn't be. It had to be. Was that the final piece of the puzzle? Is that what Taisho had known all along? But if it was, then that would mean the Dr. Taisho was really…

"I was told that my cook had to attend to his shopping early this week. I wasn't aware teenage girls could eat so much."

Kagome shrugged and looked over to Taisho. "I learned it from Inuyasha. Eat what you can when you can." Gesturing absently to the table of dishes, she added, "You never know when you will be eating your last meal."

"Good," Taisho said in a strangely bright voice. "You might be needing it." He reached into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out a ring of keys. He winked at her and tossed her the set. "You're driving."

Fumbling with the keys that had landed in her hands, Kagome stared at him. "Huh?"

"Field trip," he said with a wide grin.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Not at all."

"But I don't even have a license!"

Taisho shrugged. "If you get pulled over, I'll just tell the officers that it was part of your therapy." He laughed; the sound smooth, deep, and rich. "By the time I had finished with them they might have to consider seeking their own form of counseling."

Kagome's lip twisted into a sly grin. "Wouldn't be surprising. One day with you and I'm starting to think that I really do need a shrink."

He laughed again. "Now there's the spirit. Come on, coma girl, show me what skills you've got."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Holy shit! Did you see how close that was?" Kagome laughed manically, her body surging with adrenaline after the last close encounter.

"Kagome." There was a slight waver in the cool tenor of his voice. "Perhaps you should slow down."

"Are you kidding me?" She asked in a rush as she speeded around yet another car on the freeway. "This is a Lotus! A fucking Lotus! You don't slow down in a Lotus, you go faster!" Her foot slammed down on the accelerator, and the sleek automobile surged against the pavement, flying faster through the lane and bringing them dangerously close to the tailgate of another vehicle.

Taisho leaned back against the soft leather of the seat and looked up at the ceiling of the car. "We are going to die," he stated calmly, though most certain that it was a fact.

"Oh, lighten up," Kagome giggled from beside him. "Alright, fine, I slowed down. Better?"

Taisho glanced fretfully at the speedometer. 180km/h. He closed his eyes. "Tell me something…funny."

"Funny?" Kagome pondered for a moment as she steered the car around yet another slow-moving vehicle in her way. Once around, she chanced a look over at Taisho. She snickered at the tight grip he had on the seat and the way he had closed his eyes to her manic driving. "You mean funnier than a dog that's afraid of the family car?"

His eyes snapped open and he glared at her. "There is nothing wrong with my car when it is being driven responsibly."

"Pft!" she snorted. "You mean boringly." She patted the steering wheel lightly with her hand. "You poor baby," she cooed to it. "No one has ever let you test your rubber. Mr. Stuffy over there is all talk and no play."

He grunted in response, and she laughed. "Come on, it's not like you would really die or anything. Besides, don't you go faster than this when you warp yourself into one of them balls of light thingies? I saw Sesshomaru do it once, and let me tell ya, those things can move! Whoo! I bet it's a rush! Me, I always had to depend on either Inuyasha or Kirara to take me when we needed to get someplace fast, but we never hit those speeds. Still…" she trailed off with a snicker. "No matter how fast Inuyasha could go, I could always manage to stop him right in his tracks.

She looked over at Taisho, a devious smirk on her lips. "You want something funny? You should see an Inuhanyou get subjugated by a human priestess just by using one little word." She stopped to snicker again and swung her sights back to the road. "Sit! Can you believe it? I say sit, he falls on his face!" She shook her head fondly at the memories. "I have no idea what possessed me to use that word. I guess it was just the way he looked when he was coming after me. Like a predator, you know. I could see him in the moonlight; hear the howl of his aura as he chased after me. A word to bind him. But what do you say to an overgrown mutt when it's misbehaving? Why, sit, of course!" She giggled again. "He hated it, you know. At the beginning, at least. But, by the end, I think that he secretly appreciated what those subjugation beads meant for us."

Her light mood deflating rapidly, Kagome blinked to try and dispel the fog in her vision. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I kinda got off track there for a minute."

"It is fine," Taisho replied. He had tried to make his voice sound reassuring, but it was distant and distracted. He was busy counting the exits left before they reached their destination. In all his years he had never once felt so completely out of control of a situation. Giving the girl the keys to his car had easily been the stupidest thing he had ever done. She was completely insane!

"So you never did tell me what the purpose of this trip was," Kagome said, changing the subject.

Her question made him tense. He looked over to her, seeing the brightness of her eyes as they remained sharp and focused on the road ahead and the tiny smile of joy playing on her lips. She was so alive, so different than the broken doll he had held only the night before, the one he had sworn he had told himself wasn't real, was only a dream.

But she was real. He had been a fool to think he could ever see her as not. But he couldn't turn back now. He wouldn't.

"Endings," he said quietly, "And new beginnings."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"This is it," Kagome said as pulled back the sliding panel and stepped into the old well house. She moved over to the railing above the stairs, leaning heavily on the wooden bar as she looked down at the well. It was boarded up, just like it had been before she had been pulled through to the world beyond. It was quiet now, the magic no longer flowing through it. I had been that way ever since she had awoken in this time. She had tried, of course, to use the portal, but all she had ever gotten for the effort was swollen ankles after twisting them on the jarring impact with the bottom. Her portal to the past had been sealed, along with the memories of anyone who had ever known of her travels there. Everyone except perhaps…

A wave of heat washed over her suddenly, setting her senses on fire with angry vibrations of power. She tensed and looked up, only to find that Taisho walking past her and down the stairs towards the well. She looked after him curiously, not understanding why he had become so agitated all of a sudden. But she quickly shrugged off the uneasy feeling and followed him down the stairs.

"It doesn't work," she told him absently as she ducked under the stairs and began rummaging though the dark space beneath. When she pulled back, she had her pack in one hand and her bow in the other. She laughed lightly, but the sound was tight and forced. "I know it's silly, but I can't help wanting to give it a try every time I come in here." She held up the items in her hands. "I even leave these in here. Just in case, you know."

He didn't turn to look at her. He remained staring at the well, his form rigid, his aura sending out waves of burning unrest. "Dr. Taisho?" she asked hesitantly. "Is everything all right?"

"Toga."

"What?"

"Toga," he said again. "It is my name. Use it where you will be going."

"Where I'm going? I don't understand."

He laughed bitterly. "I'm not so sure I understand anymore, either. I thought I did. Once. But that seems so long ago now. Like a dream. But this has always been about dreams, hasn't it? Your dreams of the past, his of the future. But it was the dreams that made him loose touch with what was real. They became his obsession. He could think of nothing else. It was her eyes that finally made him break, her eyes that could see what others could not. He brought her with him, exposing his own daughter to the blood and battles he waged because he couldn't forget, because he couldn't let it go, because he couldn't believe that that reality was no more."

He turned slowly to face her, and when Kagome saw the jagged twisting of his markings lengthen and sharpen against the flawless pallor of his skin and his eyes bleed red in crimson fury, she gasped and took a tentative step back from him.

But he would not let her escape from this truth. He reached out quickly and caught her arm, drawing her closer again. "They died for a dream," he growled out, "A dream of a past that never was and a future that could never be. A dream of you, Kagome!"

"Toga, please," she stammered as she struggled against his painful grasp. "You're…hurting me."

He shifted, but did not release her. From his pocket he pulled a small glass vile. He held it up before her eyes for an instant before closing his fist around it and allowing the contents to spill out, sliding through his fingers in a silent rain of glimmering light. "So many lives wasted, and for nothing more than a few grains of sand."

"The…Shikon…"

"Yes," he hissed. "The Jewel that you wished return to the past, that you cast aside the responsibility for and left as nothing more than a memory of a dream. But it wasn't destroyed. It wasn't lost. It will always return, always to steal away more lives." His hand tightened forcefully against her arm, the sharp points of his claws digging painfully into her skin. "Always! Until it is destroyed forever, until there is nothing left to carry the memory, until the dreams are gone; it will never end!"

He pulled her harshly towards him, and she stumbled off-balance and crashed roughly against his chest. His arm wrapped around her, holding her in a steel grip. "I truly hope you find your happy ending, Kagome," his voice whispered in her ear, dark and deep and tainted by the fires burning so savagely just beneath the surface, "But I can not help but wish for mine, as well."

And then she felt a sharp, piercing pain tear through her neck. It swept through her body, carrying with it a tidal wave of crimson fires. She screamed, the pain unimaginable. But from within her there was surge, it broke through the fires like shattering glass, swept them away, and pushed them back.

Somewhere, distantly, she could hear the sharp _snap_ of wood being broken and could feel herself falling. Somewhere, beyond the light in her vision and the dance of the crimson flames that surrounded her, she could see the tiny sparks of power that glimmered in the darkness. But, one by one, the tiny lights began to fade, and with them the crimson fires. The last thing that was taken from her sights was that of her own light, her own power giving her strength and filling her being with calming ripples of simple warmth to sooth over pains and to recreate strength.

But then it too had faded, and then there was nothing but the darkness where dreams began.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What a lovely place to leave off on for the weekend :)

Cheers all.

Shadow


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The incessant twitter of songbirds broke through the darkness of her unconsciousness. It was that sound, a grating against dulled senses that forced them to awaken. Her eyes squinted from behind closed lids, attempting to block out the light that was creeping into the darkness, to hold on for just a moment more to the world of dreams. But her dreams had faded, and it was her consciousness that pulled her away from the comforting oblivion into the world of her making.

Breathing in deeply to dispel the final vestiges of her slumber, Kagome opened her eyes. She was forced to blink several times against the brightness of the late afternoon sun, but soon her vision cleared enough for her to realize that though the light was bright in comparison to the darkness of her unconsciousness, it was still muted, held in shadow by the depths of the old well.

She stared up at the clear blue of the sky, seeing it for what it was, but hardly being able to grasp at its meaning. It shouldn't have been possible. The well had closed. The magic had died. And yet, she was here, looking upon the vast stretch of blue sky above the well, no longer in the shadowy confinement of the well house that stood on her family shrine.

What had happened? She searched her mind for the answers, but coming just short of an explanation. But then, as she began to shift herself into a sitting position, a painful sting had her lifting her hand to her neck. She could feel the sticky wetness coupled with the stinging burn left upon her skin, and in an instant all of her memories flooded back to her.

"Toga…" She whispered his name, knowing that it had been his doing, his power that had caused the well to open and allow her passage. He had brought with him fragments of the Jewel, infinitesimal specks of sand that still carried enough power to alter the flow of time. But there was more, as well. She had felt it so clearly the instant her magics had risen up in her defense against his assault. He had driven her, forced her to expel a tremendous amount of energy to steady herself against the wild burn of his own. And within her, at the point where their powers had collided, she had felt something be born that she had never felt before.

But why? Why had he done it? What had he hoped it would accomplish? How was sending her back in time again going to make any more of a difference?

Her past had never been, he had said so himself. It had vanished along with her wish upon the Jewel. For without the power of the Shikon in its true form, there had been no battles for it to switch hands, no power given to those that would use it for their own selfish gains that had not been given as well to those who would use the power for peace.

And the future she had known, the one where she was remembered and her battles and struggles were known to those close to her, it had ceased to exist, as well. They had all forgotten the battles waged in her past. All except for him. Inuyasha. It had to have been him. There was no other that had been so close to the battles, so near to the Jewel, and bound so strongly to her heart. He had remembered, but it had been his memory, left to him as nothing more than a dream, that had led him to follow the Jewel once more, to seek it out, to try and recapture what had once been.

_Oh, Inuyasha. Why couldn't you have just been happy? You were given back your family, made one of your own. Why couldn't you just let the past die?_

But she knew why. Because she couldn't let it die, either. She had been so determined to find the truth of what had happened, but the truth was that she had wanted it back. She had wanted to return.

And now…She looked up to the sky above…Now she had returned. Now she had been given her most selfish wish. But it hadn't been her wish at all. It had been his. It had been the wish of a father to see a better world made for his son. He would have her destroy the Jewel forever so that not even a dream of her would be left. He would have them all forget her again. He would forget her himself.

She pulled her hand away from the tear across her neck, looking down at the dark smear of her own blood across her fingers. He had done this to her. She had trusted him, and he had lied to her, concealed from her the truth of the past, and finally he had turned on her, shoved her away with no thought and no remorse.

Her hand clenched into a tight fist, the blood coating her fingers being sealed against her own skin in an oath of promise. She would find him again, and when she did…

What? She wasn't exactly the avenging type. And besides that, he was who he was, Inu no Taisho, a youkai that she had always held in such high regards, one of insurmountable power whose compassion and love towards those of her kind was as legendary as the battles he had fought for the preservation of the future for all creatures.

_I'll give him a piece of my mind, that's what!_ With a decided nod to herself, Kagome settled the matter. It was a simple enough plan. Of course, there was always the problem of even approaching a stupidly powerful demon and keeping your head in the process, but, she thought, perhaps she would be able to find a mediator.

Her lips began pulling in a slow but excited smile as her eyes lifted again to the world beyond the well. _Inuyasha._ She could find him. He would help her. He always had and he always would. She knew it with a certainty that she would never question, one born of love and hope.

Gathering herself together quickly, she pulled the knot from the front of her blouse and made a quick binding for the wound cutting into her neck. As she tied it, she could feel the painful sting and the sticky mar left upon her skin, but she could tell that the wound had been sealed, most likely an aftereffect of his corrosive saliva. She shivered at the thought of it, but quickly pushed it away. She had no time to dwell on things that couldn't be changed.

Once finished, she gave a quick once over of her surroundings. A delighted squee left her when she set her sights on her belongings. She picked up her backpack and hugged it to her chest like a cherished pet, giggling as she swung it in her arms. Her backpack meant food and water, clean clothes and warm blankets, and her most prized possession while in the feudal era; modern day toiletries. She was so busy mentally congratulating herself on the fact that she had thought to pick it up before Dr. Taisho had gone all rabid dog on her, that she nearly missed the bow settled on the ground beneath where the bag had come to rest.

When she finally did see her weapon, her joyful exclamations deflated rapidly. She blinked at her own reaction. She had used the bow so many times in the past. It had saved her life and so many others more times than she could count. But now, she was hesitant to pick it up. She knew, somewhere in the most guarded places of her mind, that in picking up her weapon she was committing herself to the fight once more.

Only this time, the enemy that she faced was herself. She was the one that had erased the past. She was the one that had made it into nothing more than a dream. And now, if she continued on the road that she had been forced to take, she would be the one to change it all again, to wipe clean the memories of pain and sacrifice so that the world could move into a future free of the bindings of the cursed Shikon.

But there was no going back now. The well had gone silent again. The magic returned to a place beyond her reach. The way back had been lost, and if she was ever to find her way home again, she had no choice but to go forwards.

Steeling herself with determination, she reached out and took hold of her weapon, slinging it over her shoulder and settling the quiver of arrows down neatly against the straps of her pack.

She stood and lifted her eyes above again. The time had come for her to face her past.

Taking hold of the vine that wound their way down the walls of the old well, she began pulling herself up. Though slightly out of practice, she managed the climb without incident, and in moments was standing on the ground above. The wind blew soft and warm against her, bringing with it the fresh heat of the summer's day and the soothing scents of grasses and fragrant blossoms. She breathed in deeply, her eyes slipping closed as she was brought back to memories of her time here. A slow smile began forming on her lips again. How she had missed this place.

But it wasn't simply the fresh air and the vast stretches of wilderness that she had missed. It was the people, as well, the people that she had loved so very dearly.

She opened her eyes and turned in the direction of the village. Though she knew that things would be different now and that there may be no help to be found in the village that had once served as her second home, she didn't know where else o turn. Perhaps, she thought, Kaede would still be priestess in the village. Or if not her, then…Kikyo.

It was strange to think that the dead miko might actually have been alive in this time, stranger still to think of how she would be in her real life not her earthly prison made of black magic and death. And Kagome couldn't help but wonder if Kikyo had known Inuyasha in this life as well. Would they have met if it weren't for the lure of the Shikon bringing Inuyasha to her? If so, then could not they have had their happy ending without it being torn from them by Naraku's evil hands?

Such thoughts made her happy, thinking that such a horrible wrong might have been corrected by her actions; but they made her sad as well. It had always been Kikyo that held Inuyasha's heart. All along she had known this, but still that had not stopped her heart from wishing, wishing that she too could know what it was like to love and be loved in return.

Voices rose out of the distance, and Kagome stopped walking to listen. She could hear them shouting; sharp, angry calls that carried ahead through the surrounding trees to signal their approach. She tensed. She had heard such calls before, and they never meant anything good. For a moment, she was caught by indecision. Should she go forward and see if she could offer any help, or should she turn and go back to avoid an unnecessary confrontation?

Her decision, however, was made for her when her senses suddenly flared up with wild surges of crimson fires. She gasped and turned quickly to the approaching demon. But before she had even caught sight of it, it slammed into her and sent her flying to the ground.

Coughing and struggling to draw in air after having it torn so forcefully from her lungs, Kagome struggled to gain control of her limbs and pull herself up. She had just barely managed to produce any movements though, when a heavy weight settled on top of her and a hand was clamped firmly over her mouth. Blinking rapidly in confusion, she twisted sharply to bring her hands up and catch his wrist. Her focus sharpened on him.

And she froze.

"Moly mitt!!" Her curse was muffled against the tight grip. Her eyes shot wide with shocked recognition. But…but he was so…_small_. She tugged down on his wrist, but not with the sharp jerking motions she had initially used. His eyes focused on her intently, the piercing gold just barely containing the firestorm of crimson just beneath the glinting surface. She pulled again, her hands soft and coaxing against the smooth porcelain of his skin.

"Sesshomaru..."

His hand clamped back down forcefully over her mouth. He growled, the sound a wicked vibration that rattled in the air around him, and leaned into her. "How dare you speak the name of this Sesshomaru, mortal wench!" he bit out in his rumbling voice.

_Yeah, that's Sesshomaru alright,_ she though in annoyance. Her eyes narrowed angrily, but beneath the hand that held her mouth, she was smirking. _He's just a little runt! How old is he? Like…300? That makes him like Souta's age! Awwww!_

She couldn't help herself. Kagome laughed. They started out as light giggles; chiming and happy with mirth, but soon she was laughing freely, the hand that had held her pulled away in obvious confusion. "Oh!" she chocked out between giggles. "I can't believe it! You're so small!"

"Wench...!"

"No!" Kagome shot up abruptly, knocking the youkai back with a firm jolt of pure energy from her arm. He was shocked off balance, and she quickly grabbed his arms and flipped him off of her. She rolled to her knees, her eyes trained on his movements as he quickly righted himself to face her. He had crouched low, the claws on one hand extended fiercely at his side while his other supported his weight as his chest leaned down to give his back legs room to propel himself forwards.

"I'm not going to fight you, Sesshomaru," she told him in soft, steady tone.

"Then you will die," he said as he lurched forward.

But Kagome was ready. He wasn't fast enough in this time. Her bow rounded quickly from her back, being drawn off by her free hand in only second to whip around and knock him backwards. She was on him in a second, trapping his young body beneath her and bringing the heel of the bow to rest against his neck. "I'm not going to fight you, Sesshomaru," she said again. "But I will always defend myself." She shifted her bow, tapping him against the nose. "Now, shh. They're coming."

Kagome lifted herself quickly from the boy. He may have been smaller, but this was still Sesshomaru; and Kagome would never be fool enough to underestimate this youkai no matter his age. He remained guarded as well as he rose to his feet. He was shorter than her by a full five inches, but still he carried himself as she had always seen him: bigger than life.

Chancing a look over her shoulder, Kagome caught sight of the men closing in on them for the first time. They were still in the distance, the trees blocking their straight path ahead, but they would catch up soon. Too soon. She looked back at Sesshomaru. "Well, kid. It looks like you found yourself some trouble. Care for a get out of jail free card?"

He stared at her blankly, and Kagome's lips twisted in frustration. "Look," she said as she slid her backpack to the ground and flipped it open. She dug through the top layers of clothing before quickly grabbing a hooddie jacket. She held it out to Sesshomaru. "Put this on and let me do the talking. I'll get them off your trail."

He didn't move for a moment, but when a sharp alarm sounded out from one of the men to give away their position, Sesshomaru lifted a hesitant hand and took the offered clothing from the young miko. She smiled brightly at him when he took it, and quickly turned to face the approaching men. She waved and called out to them, distracting them from the youkai child that was transforming into just another human traveler behind her.

"What is all the commotion?" she asked the first man to approach sweetly.

"Youkai travel through these woods, miss," the man panted in reply. "You shouldn't be out here." He gestured absently to the boy coming to stand by her, "Especially not with a kid."

"Youkai?" she asked in false shock and an added bonus of false terror. "Oh dear. Is it dangerous?"

The man nodded firmly. "Very." His eyes shifted, skirting along the trees in anxiety. "It has an Oni on a leash and has been rampaging villages in this area for weeks. We have been tracking it." his eyes moved back to hers. "Kill the leader and the beast goes too."

"I see," Kagome drawled out slowly. She hid her scowl of displeasure at Sesshomaru's actions and kept her face set in a soft expression of shock. She lowered her eyes, though not demurely as the man might have thought. She was sweeping his clothing with a critical eye, noting the armor he wore to shield his calves and his torso and the weapons he carried on his arms. Demon Slayer. She would recognize one anywhere.

"Tell me, sir," she asked sweetly with a soft rush of urgency in her words. "Is there a village nearby where we might seek shelter?"

"Endo lies east of here," the man replied with a small motioning of his arm to direct her. "Best hurry, miss. You wouldn't want to get caught out here when the fighting starts."

"No," she agreed readily. "I wouldn't want that." Offering him a warm smile she thanked the man and turned towards the village, motioning Sesshomaru to follow along with her. Once gone from the man's hearing, she turned to the boy. "Attacking villages?" she hissed out in accusation. "What the hell were you doing attacking villages?"

The boy huffed, crossed his arms stiffly over his chest, and lifted his face to tilt away from her. "I do not answer to you, human."

"Ok, that's it!" Kagome took a long stride and planted herself firmly in front of Sesshomaru. "Listen up, kid. My name is Kagome. Learn it. Use it. I hear you call me human or wench again, and you'll find the hard way why not to mess with me. And second, where the hell is this pet of yours?"

He snorted softly, still not meeting her gaze. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because if you don't," she sneered back at him, "I'm just going to track it and kill it."

That got his attention. His golden eyes snapped sharply to meet hers. They were narrowed fiercely, his anger so apparent in his youthful features. "You could try. You will fail."

"Don't count on it, puppy," returned with equal threat veiled within her words.

A sudden, piercing scream rose up in the distance and caught Kagome's attention. She spun quickly towards the sound, but knew instantly where it had come from. Endo. The village was being attacked. She exhaled a hissing breath and spun back quickly to Sesshomaru. But he had already moved away from her. His lips lifted into a wicked smirk, and then in the blink of an eye, he had taken to the trees, gone from her sights but not her senses.

"Sesshomaru!" she screamed out at the youkai. "Get back here!"

But there was no response, and a massive crash from the village below told the young priestess that she had no time to be playing hide and seek.

She cursed softly under her breath as she turned and started running for the village. "I'm going to kill him!"

When she reached the line of the trees and the farmland below opened up before her, she could finally see the massive form of the Oni towering over the simple huts and farm structures set up in the village. Its body hunched at the waist, the massive bulk of its chest weighing it down as it struck out with its hammering arms of sinew and muscle and sharp talons.

The beast roared wildly when struck in one of its bulging legs with a volley of spears sent sailing at it by the men defending the village, their homes and their families. It turned towards them, its heavy weight crashing against the ground in heaving pulsed with every motion. Terrified screams rose up from the men caught beneath the monster's footfalls, screams silenced forever in only a moment's time when the beast shifted and settled its weight down again.

Kagome ran as fast as she could to get to the village. Her arrows could stop this beast in its tracks. She found her way into the closest section of the village, darting quickly around scattered debris and tattered planks of wood and roofing. But the beast was moving again. Having forced the men attacking it into retreat, it turned its attention back to the village huts.

With one massive sweep of its taloned hands, it tore a house from its foundations and flung it carelessly to crash into another. The buildings exploded from the contact, sending a raining misery of broken dreams down along with the splinters of wood.

Behind her, there was a cry. The sound was shrill and piercing, a wail of horror from an innocent. The beast had heard it, as well. It turned towards the child's voice, its red eyes gleaming with wicked glee. Kagome skidded to a stop as the beast turned, and in only seconds she had her bow set and ready.

But she held still. She could feel Him nearby. Watching. "Sesshomaru!" she called out to the boy. "Stop him or it's all over!"

He didn't respond, and she had no more time. She pulled back hard on the draw of her bow, holding firm against the trembling of the ground as the beast moved towards her to steady her aim. Her release was coupled with an eruption of brilliant white light. It spread out from her, following the path of her arrow in a deadly sweep of pure energy and power.

The beast howled in furious agony as it was stripped of its right leg. The shot had cleared straight through, burning a path of white fire to sear across the dark mass of youkai energy. Not waiting for the beast to recover, Kagome turned away quickly and made her way back through the houses of the village, searching for the owner of the voice that had called out in such fear.

She neared a small hut and slowed her strides. She could hear a soft sobbing from within, and she knew she had found what she was looking for. Stepping up to the doorway, she pushed aside the hanging flap and looked in. Inside, three children were huddled together. The two elders, a boy and a girl no more than ten, were clinging tightly to a small girl of only four. And she, this little one that had screamed in such horror, held clutched to her chest a small feline companion.

The cat hissed at Kagome as she stepped into the hut and closer to the children, drawing her attention to focus on it. She tilted her head slightly as she read into its aura. "Kirara?" she whispered tentatively. "Is that really you?"

The cat hissed again when she took another step and pushed out of the girl's arms. It landed softly on the floor, the padding of its feet absorbing even the slightest sound of its passage.

"Kirara," Kagome called her name more firmly now, stepping forward again. "I'm not going to hurt them."

But the cat hissed at her, its hackles rising and the fires of its being sweeping out around its pale fur. Behind the feline, the children screamed and huddled back against the wall of the hut, shielding themselves from the heat of the fires.

"No, no!" Kagome held up her hands placatingly. "It's all right. Children? She won't hurt you. Kirara is your friend. She is trying to protect you." She looked down to the burning eyes of the youkai cat. "Please," she asked softly as she reached out her hand. "Please, just trust me." She leaned forward, allowing her fingers to brush delicately against the silken fibers of the firecat's mane. At first, Kirara held herself stiff, but she quickly leaned into the gentle touch of the pure priestess, releasing a low, vibrating purr.

Kagome smiled and looked back to the children. "Come here quickly," she told them with authority. "Kirara can take you out of here and to a safe place."

Another hard crash outside shook through the ground and rattled the wooden boards of the hut. "Quickly!" Kagome prompted them, dashing over to lift the youngest and set her on the back of the feline. The girl-child was quick to reacquaint herself with her feline friend, but the other two remained skeptical. "Now's not the time!" Kagome hissed impatiently as the ground shook again. She shoved the elder children forward and began pressing them onto the cat's back. Once they were secured, she told them sharply to hold on, then smacked Kirara on the rump and told her to go.

The cat had just dashed out the doorway when the shaking of the ground stopped just outside of the hut. Kagome swallowed thickly and looked to the door. She could see the dark shadow spreading along the ground outside. It was there. It was waiting.

Then, with no warning, the roof above her split wide in a great tear. Wood and debris rained down on her head, and Kagome was forced to he knees to block against the falling assault. But even in her guarded crouch, she could see the dark shadow passing above her. She tucked herself into a ball and rolled against the debris riddled floor of the hut, only narrowly missing the grasping talons of the best.

Bringing herself to her knees again, she pulled down her bow. The beast was slow and cumbersome, and it couldn't pull back in time. Her arrow struck out at it with untamed abandon, its light filling the small hut so completely that it burst through the seams of the wall and flooded outside. The beast roared wildly and pulled back, and Kagome was quick to take her exit cue. She dashed for the door, flinging it open and stepping out, only to have to dive in a rush to the ground when the creature's second hand came crashing down to tear the remainders of the house from its lodgings in a furious spray of wood and pitch.

Fumbling against the debris littering the ground, Kagome struggled to regain her footing. The last fall had torn her legs with several long scrapes bleeding with fresh blood. But she fought through the sting of her wounds and dragged herself up, turning and setting herself again against the beast.

Before she could even lift her bow, however, a brilliant surge of white light streaked past her and landed squarely in the beast's chest, piercing through its demon heart. It didn't even get a chance to roar out its last call before it was taken over by the light, consumed from within by the crystal radiance. The Oni's form cracked and shattered, falling apart like a pane of glass struck by a hammer and drifting down to the earth in a soft sprinkling of pure and glittering ash.

Stepping back from the fallout, Kagome stared in confusion until she was startled to turn by the voice.

"Halt, demon! Stay where you are!"

But even as the voice sounded out and Kagome began to turn, the tight coil of a bowstring being released vibrated through the air. The shot glanced off Kagome's side, but the force of it sent her spinning to the ground.

Blinking in shock and confusion, she struggled again to lift herself. A clenching pain was ripping through her side, but she grit her teeth against the pain and forced herself to look up. Her sight finally settled on the woman that had brought her to the ground, and Kagome gasped softly. She was a miko. No. She was more than a miko. In her hands she held her bow trained intently on her target. But she was covered in thick armor, and at her waist was strapped a gleaming blade. A Warrior Miko. But the only Warrior Miko Kagome had ever heard tell about had been...

A terrible hiss sliced through the air, and in a blaze of leaping fires of red, Kirara set down just in front of the fallen priestess. She hissed again, bearing her deadly fangs to the one attacking. Kagome's eyes widened and she quickly looked back to the Miko. "No!" she cried frantically when she saw the other's bow had been strung again and her sights trained on the firecat.

But it was too late. The arrow had already been loosed. Kagome watched in horror as it drew nearer to her once friend, but her horror was soon turned to shock and disbelief when she saw the arrow sail past its intended target and land harmlessly embedded in a fallen section of wall. She looked back quickly to the priestess, thinking perhaps her plea had been heard.

But it had not been her voice that had stalled the attack. And her voice would not be heard by this Miko any longer.

"No," she whispered disbelievingly.

She could only watch as the Miko's body went stiff, rigid in the hold of the youkai that had taken her back. Seeping through even the heavy layers of her armor, the Miko's blood ran in thick currents down the bright gleam of her armor. Her eyes had been drawn wide in surprise and her mouth opened in a silent cry of anguish as her face lifted to the heavens. And, slowly, her body slumped down to the ground, her knees giving out under a weight they no longer had the strength to support.

Gasping in horror, Kagome quickly pulled herself to her feet and dashed over to catch the woman before she could fall completely to the ground. She caught her shoulders, drawing her head down gently to rest in her arms. "I'm sorry," she whispered in a trembling voice as she rocked the woman slowly. "I'm so sorry."

"A Miko…" The woman's voice was soft, but thick with liquid as she breathed of her own blood. Her chocolate eyes moved groggily to find Kagome's, and amazingly, she smiled. "May you be stronger…than me."

"No!" Kagome shook her head sharply. "You're not going to die! You can't!"

But the Miko only smiled her soft smile, her hands reaching up to clasp Kagome's and pull them tight with hers in prayer. "It is…funny," the Miko whispered as her eyes began to drift to the distance. "I had always thought…I would live forever. To know that I will die…is…freeing…"

The woman's body slumped limply in Kagome's arms, her eyes slipping closed of this world. "No," Kagome whimpered desperately. "You can't die. Midoriko…."

Tears leaked from her eyes, streaming down her face in crystal paths of sorrow. Her haunted eyes lifted, the beauty of the depthless blues clouded by dark swirls of jaded cobalt as they looked upon the golden oceans of ice that stared back at her from the one who had taken the woman's life. Her blood still dripped from his claws, spreading crimson smears against the paleness of his skin.

"What have you done, Sesshomaru?"

There was a shift in the depths of his eyes, a glint in the golden oceans, a clash of amber fury. He stiffened and turned away from the young miko, but his voice carried back to her. "She would have killed you."

Staring blankly in disbelief, Kagome tried, without success, to understand what had just transpired. Only a few moments and everything had been changed. Only a second in time and all of the future she had known had ceased to exist. But though this knowledge settled heavily upon her shoulders, she couldn't help but be lightened by the understanding that Sesshomaru had been trying to protect her, to pay back a debt owed in his eyes.

Strong shouts and cries coming from the villagers snapped Kagome's attention away from Sesshomaru. She could see the simple farm men of the village gathered about the armored Slayers near the edge of the village. They were pointing and gesturing angrily, and the moment one of the Slayer's eyes trained across the distance to land on her, she knew that she had been labeled for this hunt as well.

Carefully leaning the body of the dead Miko down to rest on the ground, Kagome took only a second to whisper a soft prayer of hope on the beads that had been clutched in her hands by the dying Miko before pulling back and climbing to her feet. "Let's go," she said firmly as she walked past Sesshomaru on her way to Kirara. "I am taking you back to your father."

Sesshomaru scoffed. "You wouldn't stand a chance…"

"Stuff it, pup!" she cut in tersely. "I've had a hell of a bad day, and it just got a whole hell of a lot worse. I'm taking you to your father so that you don't cause any more trouble, and because Toga's the only one that can get me out of this mess he put me into! So come on!" Her hand reached out impulsively to catch the kid by the scruff of the neck and drag him where she wanted to go, a habit picked up on long ago with her own irritating little brother. But as her hand reached out, so did the prayer beads that still clung to her fingers. The chain spread out from her hand in a sweep of light, wrapping securely around the youkai's neck.

Sesshomaru growled but didn't move, held bound by the glowing light of the prayer beads, and Kagome just stared….And then smirked wickedly. "Well, well, puppy. Looks like you're coming with me weather you like it or not."

Growling again, Sesshomaru flexed his claws at his sides. "I will kill you, wench," he bit out frigidly.

Kagome leaned into him until their noses were touching, staring him down intently. She smiled suddenly and pulled back. "No you won't," she told him with confidence. "Now," a slight pull against the chain wrapped around the boy's neck had him stumbling towards Kagome's waiting transport. She had to fight furiously against the rising giggles. "Come on. I'm not sticking around to face those villagers."

Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Sesshomaru followed behind the miko. He gave a low growl of complete disgust to the feline, which she returned with a hiss of equal displeasure. But both were silenced abruptly by the sudden shouts and cries that rang out telling them to stop. Kagome mounted the firecat quickly, hauled Sesshomaru up in front of her, and squeezed her legs against Kirara's back to signal her to go.

With fluid grace, the giant cat took to the skies with her passengers, taking them safely away from the anger and outrage of the village below. Kagome sighed heavily as she watched the houses shrink into the distance, but her eyes were soon drawn out across the land. Somewhere out there, she knew, there was a power rising, one that was meant to be sealed forever by the Miko that lay dead in the village below. Without her, who was left to stand against it?

Even without asking the question, Kagome knew the answer. Only one remained who could.

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One moment please…..HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ROFLMAO!!! I put Sesshomaru on a leash! --snorts-- Take that!

Ahem…okay now down to business. This chapter was extra long because I can't update tomorrow (got beerball – which is technically baseball, but in a beer league where if you win you cheers and if you loose…well, you cheers anyways…lol I love beerball ;P) So, I hope you've enjoyed!

TaTa

Shadow


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Kagome hissed in pain as she applied a hard compress to the arrow wound across her side. _'Damn,'_ she thought as she closed her eyes to try and drone out the aching throb, _'This should get stitches.'_ The wound wasn't terribly deep, but it had glanced off her ribcage just under her left arm and had opened a wide gash that was bleeding profusely. The blood loss had already begun to make her feel light headed; and her adrenaline rush from earlier having calmed, she was beginning to feel a lot more of the pain.

But, with a trip to the doctor out of the question for the young miko, she was forced to rely on her own battlefield first aid until she could take the time to clean and bind the wound properly.

Noticing the hardly covert attention of the Inu cub sitting ahead of her on the firecat, Kagome forced a placating smile for his benefit. "It's not so bad," she told him, though her voice cracked with a slight tremor despite her efforts to keep it steady.

Sesshomaru quickly shifted his eyes away from her, trying to conceal his interest in her treatment of her wounds. "Humans are weak."

The softness of his tone made Kagome smile "Sometimes," she agreed. "But sometimes strength doesn't come from the body."

Even from behind him, Kagome could see the slight tilting of his head as he puzzled over her words. When he finally looked back to her, questions brewing just beneath the placid golden surfaces of his eyes, she only smiled and shook her head. She lifted her eyes to the distance, watching the roll of the land and skies as they became bathed in the fiery glow of the setting sun. "It'll get dark soon." She observed distantly as she looked back down to Sesshomaru. "I would prefer to camp with proper company. Where is he?"

His lips parted, as though he would say something, but his eyes quickly hardened, his brow drawing tightly in anger before he looked away.

"Fine," Kagome huffed in aggravation. "We do it the hard way."

Reaching down, Kagome set her hand reassuringly on Kirara's flank to keep her steady in the air. The cat looked back for a moment when she began to feel the warm rush of flowing energy over her side, but the soothing stroking of the young miko's fingers through her fur appeased the beast and she rumbled a deep purr of contentment before setting her sights ahead again.

Satisfied with Kirara's acceptance of her, Kagome allowed her eyes to slip closed in concentration.

"What are you doing?"

Cracking an eye open in annoyance, Kagome glared at the young Sesshomaru. "I'm focusing my aura. What does it look like?" His eyes narrowed marginally, but Kagome ignored him and closed her eyes again.

"Your efforts are futile."

Kagome's lips tightened in frustration, but she kept her eyes glued shut and continued drawing up her sleeping senses.

"You will never find him."

A strained breath hissed through the young miko's teeth as she snapped her eyes open completely. "Well it isn't going to work with you pestering me! Now, shh!"

He growled. "Do not shush me, wench!"

Kagome went rigid with resentment. Her eyes darkened fiercely on the boy and her hand tightened around the prayed beads resting in her palm. Light shot through the string of beads, skipping from one to the next in dancing arrays of pure energy until the entire length was glowing with white light and the youkai it constrained was held bound.

She leaned closer to him. "One day, you will be bigger and stronger, faster and more powerful. When that day comes, I hope that you remember this. Because no matter how strong you become, there will always be someone stronger. And at the end of the day, it will be your allies, your friends and your family, that are the only things keeping you alive."

Her eyes swam with deep currents of painful longings, and she quickly blinked and looked away.

"West." His voice was so soft it was like plea, begging for her to hear.

Nodding in thanks, Kagome smiled a trembling smile. She closed her eyes again and pulled her senses outwards, directing them towards the setting sun. Sweeping across the land with invisible hands, she asked for it to reveal its secrets. In moments, she began to feel the pulse of life that coursed through the land. Moments more, and she was confronted with a massive swell of energy. It was angry and frightening, filled with fury and might; but with pain and suffering, as well. So massive. So many. A war.

Gasping, Kagome quickly opened her eyes and looked down to Sesshomaru. "Tell me, Sesshomaru," she asked quickly. "Does your father wield Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga?"

His eyes drawing wide in surprise, Sesshomaru nodded mutely in the affirmative.

"And what about So'unga?"

"So'unga?"

_Not good. Very, very not good._ Breathing out an oath, Kagome racked her brain for a way to pull Toga away from the battle that wouldn't impede his course in the war. She was coming up with nothing, but when she looked back to Sesshomaru again, she was hit with inspiration. She reached behind her and drew an arrow from her quiver. Reaching her other hand forward, she said, "Give me you hand."

Sesshomaru tensed and pulled back from her, his eyes trained warily on the arrow in her hand. Kagome followed his sight, and twitched the arrow in her fingers. "Only a scratch," she promised him. "From this high up, the scent of your blood will carry. If his nose is anything like…like I think it is, then he'll be able to find us in no time if he can pull back from the fighting."

Sesshomaru's brows drew together slightly, his focus on the arrow changing to one of contemplation rather than hesitation. But, with a slight shake of his head, he looked away. "He won't come," he said as his right hand rubbed absently over his left forearm, his grip tightening once he reached a hidden pain.

"The Demon Slayers?" Kagome asked softly. He didn't answer, but she knew it had been. _Is that why he was attacking the villages? He was trying to bring his father back home?_ "He'll come," she told him with a tender smile. When his eyes finally shifted back to meet hers, Kagome winked and her smile spread. "And if he doesn't, I'll just have to find a bigger leash."

Giving a playful tug on the beads secured around Sesshomaru's neck, she giggled happily when he began to growl, because this time his growl wasn't low and angry, the threat in the sound had been soothed behind a playful rumble.

"So?" she asked with another twitch of the arrow between her fingers. "What do you say?"

Tilting his chin up, Sesshomaru straightened his posture. "I will do it," he said as he reached out for the arrow.

With a shrug, Kagome handed the arrow over to the boy. He held it in his hand for a moment, his eyes trained on the deadly point. When he looked back to her, his eyes were troubled. "Why would you hand your weapon over so freely to a youkai?"

Shrugging again, Kagome replied, "I didn't. I handed it over to a friend."

His lips pursed tightly as he look back to the arrow in his claws. Then, with a harsh snarl, he ripped the arrowhead over the palm of his hand, drawing deep through his immortal flesh to break the seal on his blood. When the arrow had been coated with the crimson liquid, he pulled it back and clenched his hand into a fist. He flexed it several times, drawing against his power stores to focus and seal the wound. A flow of crimson fires spread against his skin, filling the gap and consuming the blood marring the perfect pallor of his skin. When the energies died away, nothing remained but a thin red line still whisping with tiny sparks of fire.

He was smirking when he handed the arrow back to her, and Kagome scowled at his pompousness. "Nice trick," she murmured tersely. "But let's see you do it with a whole arm."

She snatched the arrow from his hand and quickly set it in her bow. Directing Kirara to turn to give her room to aim, Kagome pulled hard against the draw and released the arrow in a high arch to carry through the winds. She watched it peak and then begin its descent. Taking a better hold of Kirara, Kagome urged the cat to follow.

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Sesshomaru stole yet another glance at the miko. She was leaning heavily on the cat that had brought them from the village, her hand gripping tightly to the side that had sustained injury. She was covered in blood, absolutely reeked of it. Her side, her arms and legs, and her neck too seemed to have bore an earlier wound.

He bit his lip to keep himself from growling. "He will not come," he told her coolly. "There is no use waiting."

But she shook her head slowly before leaning back against the cat and closing her eyes. "He'll come."

This time he did growl, though managing a low enough tone that she couldn't hear. She was being foolish! She needed to tend to her wounds, not sit in wait of someone that likely wasn't coming anyways. And with blood on the air of both youkai and miko, staying in this place was far too dangerous.

"Woman…"

"Kagome," she interrupted firmly, though not opening her eyes.

His lips twitched in annoyance. "What makes you so sure he will come?"

"Use it where you will be going," she replied.

"What?"

Sighing, Kagome opened her eyes to look at him. "Toga," she said. "His name. He told me to use it where I would be going." Sighing again, she shifted, pulling her weight up slowly by using Kirara to help keep her steady. "I just wish he would have been more clear on the when," she said quietly as her vision began to shift to another sense.

"Toga!" She called his name out forcefully. "I've waited long enough! Show yourself!"

A surge of restless winds and angry currents of energy rushed through the surrounding trees in response to her words. They tore across her from all sides, whipping her hair into a wild dance around her as it was caught in the turbulent drafts. But Kagome held herself firm with her eyes trained straight ahead where she could see the crimson burn of his power take focus and form.

When he finally stepped free of the wild burn of power, Kagome saw him as he had been for the first time. Dressed in full battle armor, his lean frame became imposing, given a hard edge to every definition of muscle. His hair had been swept up to keep it back from his face as the silken strands were sent whipping around him in a dance of chaos and flashing silver. And in the waning light of the dusk, his face remained partially hidden, sharp lines muted behind planes of shadows. But his eyes pieced through the distance between them, fierce and hard; they were the eyes of a hunter.

Gripping tightly on the chain of beads holding Sesshomaru by her side, Kagome allowed her powers to ignite the sacred binding. "Your boy has been causing trouble in the villages east of here," she informed the Inu with a light tug against the beads. "I suggest you keep him on a shorter leash."

Sesshomaru growled from beside her, managing to give a hard tug against his bindings, but Kagome held him firm, her eyes never leaving Toga's.

"Release him." The Inu's command carried to her in a voice solid with cold fury.

"Of course," Kagome replied. "But not before you and I have a nice long talk. About your children, your future…" She paused, lifting her free hand to her neck and pulling away the scarf that had concealed her injury. She tilted her head to the side, giving the Inu a full view of the angry red welt marring her skin in the pattern of his own fangs. "…and this."

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--Yawns-- Sorry folks. That's all for tonight. I've gotta get some sleep. But I need to get my fix while I'm able. Only one more day of updating before I'm off for the long weekend. Then it'll be no more updates till…next Wednesday! --starts shaking uncontrollably-- I don't know if I can hold out that long without my addiction!

Lol, anyways. Night all. Sweet dreams.

Shadow


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Seeing him look at her with such cold detachment and such blatant anger was unsettling, to say the least. His aura cracked with wicked currents of crimson fury, lancing out at her in invisible waves of deadly promise. A soft tremor ran through her body in response to the unvoiced threat, but Kagome forced herself to stand firm against him. After all, it had been his doing that had brought her here. And more than that, she had never feared him before. There was no reason to now.

She showed him this as she turned her eyes away from him, giving him her trust and showing him her faith. "Sesshomaru," she asked quietly of the boy as she reached out and began untangling the prayer beads from his neck. "Do me a favor, would you? Find a place nearby that would be a suitable camp and start a fire. I need to boil water to see to my wounds."

When she had removed the beads completely, Sesshomaru stayed where he was, rubbing absently along the line of his neck that had been bound. She smiled for him. "Please?"

Stealing a glance at his father, Sesshomaru saw the sharp flick of his eyes that told him to move it. A soft whine sounded in his throat as he looked back to the young priestess. He had to go. But… "Do not be long…Kagome."

He disappeared from her sights so quickly after he had spoken, that Kagome hardly even had time to register what he had said. When she did though, her smile grew warm with affection. He was such a sweet kid. It was becoming more and more difficult for her to see him as she once had, as the Assassin, the cold and ruthless one that by all definitions was the Killing Perfection.

But then, the Sesshomaru she had known had been hardened and jaded by many lifetimes of battles and struggles, of blood, death, and loss. To seal himself from the pain he created his own form of isolation, one in which he was untouchable. Though she could see much of what he was in the child she had met in this time, his pride, his honor, and his ruthless abandon; she could see more, as well. She had seen his question and his wonder, his curiosity and his compassion. All those things buried beneath a wasteland of ice then were softer now, more willing to be brought to the surface.

"He is enamored with you."

"No." Kagome shook her head slowly as she turned back to Toga. "He just needs a friend."

Speaking of friends, however, had reminded Kagome of Kirara's presence. The firecat stood behind her in a low crouch, her burning eyes locked on the powerful Inu. She looked caught in indecision, between staying and fighting or simply taking her leave with her life.

Brushing her hand through her bangs wearily, Kagome sighed and looked to Toga. "Could you…" She gestured to Kirara tiredly. "She doesn't really understand me in this time. Could you tell her it's alright for her to go back to the village?"

"The cat is not yours?"

"Not really. She is a friend, or at least was. She helped me get Sesshomaru away from the village after…" Sighing, she shook her head. "Just tell her, please."

"You would leave yourself defenseless?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Like Kirara could stop you if you wanted to put me six feet under. Besides, you're not going to hurt me. You don't have it in you."

"That is very presumptuous of you, we…"

"You call me wench," Kagome cut in with a hard edge in her voice and a dangerous glint in her eyes, "and I'll ram an arrow so far up your ass you'll be digging it out for the next hundred years!"

He blinked, the only evidence of his surprise, before resetting his features in placid nonchalance. "Human…"

"What is it with you dogs and your inability to address people properly?" Kagome snapped in irritation. "Kagome. My name is Kagome." Seeing how unaffected he was, Kagome threw her hands up in exacerbation. "Whatever. I get it. It's a power trip thing. But if you're not going to use my name, at the very least use my title. I'm a miko. You can address me as such."

"A miko? And yet you claim to have befriended youkai?"

Gritting her teeth Kagome leveled the Inu with a hard glare. "How is it that even a thousand years in the past you still manage to sound like my doctor?"

"Doctor?"

Kagome groaned. The man…err…demon, was absolutely impossible! Flopping herself down on the ground, biting her lip hard to keep herself from crying out at the stabbing pain that ripped through her in response, Kagome reached out to the firecat and began stroking her hand through her silky fur. "I'm sorry to have dragged you into this mess, Kirara. If it wasn't for me coming here, it would have been Midoriko you met in that village, wouldn't it? She would have seen you so bravely protecting those children, and you would have felt her gentle touch. Not mine. You would have helped her. Not me. And she wouldn't have died like that. She would have lived long enough to seal away the darkness of the rising power. She would have been the one to make the ultimate sacrifice, and the Shikon would have been born. Her last best hope to stop the darkness can never be, and now it is as though it never was. She is dead. But the darkness is still rising. Who will be the one to stop it now?"

Her voice wavered and caught. She closed her eyes tightly against the tears of hopelessness and despair that wanted to spill over from her aching heart. Taking a deep breath, she managed to steady herself. She looked back to Toga. "You sent me here, to this time, because you would have had me destroy the Shikon forever, because you would have had me change the past, make them forget, make everyone forget. You would have wiped history clean of the Shikon. You would have had all the sacrifices made in the pursuit of its power be erased and forgotten. But it didn't work, did it? With Midoriko gone, the only one with enough power to seal the demon…"

Closing her eyes in a desperate attempt to dispel the dark images flowing through her mind, Kagome looked away from him. Her voice dropped into a trembling whisper. "…is me."

"Nonsense," he scoffed. "Even if what you say holds any merit of truth, the 'demon' you speak of could be destroyed in any manner of ways. This seal, this Shikon, need never be. If it was I that sent you here, it seems your mission is complete." He tilted his head away from her in dismissal. "I suggest you return with the feline to your village. You have my gratitude for returning my son to me, but your presence is no longer necessary."

"You self-centered, egotistical, son of a bitch!" Kagome pulled herself to her feet in a rush of anger and resentment and pointed an accusing finger at the youkai. "You think you can just walk away from me now? You think that I'm just going to let you? You've sent me to my death! The very least I can do is tell you how fucking appreciative I am for it!"

A fierce snarl of warning hissed through his clenched teeth as he brought his focus back to the young miko. "Take more care to whom you speak, woman!"

"You think I'm scared of you?" she bit out in a low, angry voice. "_Both_ of your sons tried to kill me when we first met." She smirked deviously as her words hit home with him and his eyes flashed with suspicion. "For Sesshomaru," she gestured shortly in the direction he had gone, "today makes his second first encounter; the first 500 years from now in a future that never was and can never be. And Inuyasha…" Her eyes narrowed sharply in accusation. "Well, you've gotten your wish, because now he will never remember me. Not even in a memory from a dream. I bet your future self would be pleased," she sneered. "That is, of course, if you remembered me. But, of course, you wouldn't. No one will. You've seen to it."

Turning away from him abruptly, Kagome drew in several long breaths to calm herself. She was so angry she could have screamed, but so absolutely miserable that she was on the verge of crying. "I trusted you," she breathed out in a harsh breath. "I thought you wanted to help me." She shook her head sharply. "But you didn't. You only wanted to help yourself. And it didn't matter to you who got hurt because of it. It doesn't now, does it?"

He didn't respond, and Kagome nodded mutely to herself in resignation. "I hope this brings you your happy ending, Toga," she whispered as she began walking for the trees. She motioned for Kirara to come, and the cat rose and padded silently by her side, her muscular frame once again serving to support the young miko as she struggled with her injuries.

"It is quite late for travel." Kagome stopped at the sound of his voice and looked back over her shoulder to him. He caught her eye and motioned with his hand in the direction Sesshomaru had gone. "A fire has been lit. It would be wise to tend to your wounds before a less hospitable creature catches the scent of your blood."

The miko's eyes drifted slowly in the direction of the camp, the sorrow engulfing her paining her so much more than the wounds of her flesh and making her hesitate. Perhaps, had it not been for the heaviness she carried with her, he may not have given thought to the dramatic tale she had spun. But it was the fact that even speaking the words with conviction and determination that she had still maintained an air of fragility born of the painful longing seen shimmering just beyond the surface of her eyes. It had given him pause, made him think that perhaps her words carried truth to them, that perhaps she did know more that what it appeared.

"What about you?"

The miko's timid whisper was so heavy with sorrow that again he found himself wondering at her presence. "I will remain for what time I am able."

Her smile was brittle. "It won't be long enough."

He had wanted to ask her what she had meant by that, but she had already turned away from him and was walking towards the camp. He watched her go, his mind busy sorting through the puzzle she had presented him with.

As far as he could tell, she had not lied. The words she spoke, she believed to be truth. Of course, that was not to say that she had not been mislead or manipulated into believing a falsity; but it seemed unlikely that such was the case. The markings on her neck were not something that he could overlook so easily. She had been bitten, and the pattern was unmistakable.

Still, it shouldn't have been possible. She couldn't be what she said she was. She couldn't know of a child he had never had.

The soft give of grasses from behind him forced Toga from his musings. "You will be punished for your reckless behavior," he said.

Grimacing slightly, Sesshomaru nodded. "I know. But is it true, father? Is she really from the future?"

Releasing a heavy breath, Toga replied, "I don't know, Sesshomaru. I just don't know.

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Releasing a long, tired sigh, Kagome settled herself back against her pack and stretched her cramped legs out on her sleeping bag. Her right hand reached out lazily to pet the much smaller version of her feline friend who had curled up by her side, and she smiled at the soft purrs the little cat was making. Earlier, she had tried to get Kirara to leave, but she had refused, and Kagome didn't have the heart to force her. Besides, it was comforting to have a friend with her now.

She had been trying not to think about it, but was failing miserably. She knew what she had to do. She couldn't leave this time with the knowledge that she had allowed for the demon of the Shikon to rise. Toga had said that there were other ways to kill it, and perhaps he was right. But without Midoriko's power, and without Toga's strength, Kagome knew that her chances of survival were next to none.

And he couldn't help her. He had to return to the wars. He had to make his place in history. He had to bring an end to So'unga's reign.

So where did that leave her but back at the beginning? If she faced off against the rising darkness, she would have no better luck than Midoriko did, if even that. The Shikon would be born again from her desperation and her sacrifice. Nothing would have been changed. The dream would go on.

_What do I do?_ But she had no answers to her question.

The high whistle of her kettle coming to a boil again pulled Kagome from her thoughts. Carefully, so to not shift her newly applied bandages, she pulled herself up and reached for the kettle. She poured the steaming liquid into two cups of Ramen and closed the lids to let them steam. Setting the kettle down again she tilted her head slightly before turning to her left. "Sesshomaru," she called out to the concealed boy. "Come out for a bit and talk to me."

There was silence for a moment, nothing but the soft breeze of the lazy summer's night rustling the trees. But she waited patiently, and eventually, he stepped away from the concealing shadows. Smiling brightly, Kagome motioned him closer. "I've got some extra ramen," she told him. "You can have it if you want."

The boy glanced over at the cups of steaming noodles, but he quickly shook his head. "I do not eat human food."

Kagome waved a hand in dismissal. "Only because you can't really trust humans in this time to not want to poison you. My little Shippo ate my cooking all the time, and he was youkai just like you. Well, actually, he was a Kitsune, not an Inu, but same diff, right?" Sesshomaru still seemed wary, so Kagome shrugged and picked up her own cup. "It's okay, you don't have to. I just thought you might be hungry."

Taking a few mouthfuls of her dinner, Kagome stopped when she noticed Sesshomaru move closer to her. She looked up and saw that he was holding the jacket she had given him.

"Your assistance was…appreciated by this Sesshomaru."

Kagome cocked an eyebrow. "That was the worst thank you I've ever heard." She reached out and took the jacket. "But you're welcome. And tell your father that if he's going to force you into doing things that he should have you work on your acting skills a bit beforehand." His features shifted into a hard scowl, but Kagome just smiled. "Don't worry. My mom made me do stupid things too when I was a kid. It's a parents job to make their kids feel stupid. That way, we learn from our mistakes."

"It is…bothersome," he sighed.

Kagome chuckled. "Tell me about it." She shifted slightly and patted the spot next to her on her sleeping bag to motioning him to sit. He hesitated for a moment, but then lowered himself to the blanket. His hands brushed across the soft material and he looked to her quizzically, but Kagome shook her head. "If you're going to ask me what it's made of, I haven't a clue. I just know it keeps me warm and dry and that's good enough for me."

He sat with her silently for a time, and Kagome went back to eating her noodles. Once she finished her cup, she tired offering the second to him again, but again he declined so she ate some of it as well. She was halfway through the second cup, when Sesshomaru spoke.

"That woman…in the village. You knew her?"

Setting her food down, Kagome turned towards the boy. He wasn't looking at her, his eyes cast down to the ground in front of him. "I knew of her," she told him quietly. "She was a great Miko."

His features tightened, but he tilted his head further so that she couldn't see his reactions. "You were…angry with what I did."

Breathing in deeply, Kagome nodded. "I was. But not for the reasons you might think. I understand why you did what you did, and I am grateful that you tried to help me. But sometimes…" She trailed off, uncertain how to finish or how to explain something so complicated in words. "Tell you what," she said, changing tactics. "How about I tell you a story?"

"A story?" he asked speculatively as he turned to look at her.

"Yup," Kagome said with a grin. "It's called a Feudal Fairytale. It begins with two lands that were in conflict with each other. One was lead by a Young Prince. He was brave and strong, but he was also impulsive and rash."

Sesshomaru scoffed. "He sounds like a fool."

Laughing, Kagome replied, "I thought you might think so. But he was a hero to many people. His actions saved many lives, and he had earned their respect. One day, while in battle, the Young Prince was wounded. In his weakened state, a demon arose and took control of him. It turned him into something savage, something so far from what he was that he could hardly be recognized. The demon drove the Young Prince into a mindless rampage, forcing him to tear through the lands of the neighboring kingdom. The Lord of the lands, a powerful, calculating man, heard of the unrest in his kingdom and he immediately went out to put a stop to it; for never would he allow his lands to be tainted with such defilement."

Kagome could see Sesshomaru's smirk as he related to the Lord of her story, and she nearly lost herself to a fit of giggles. _If he only knew…_

"The Lord fought the Young Prince in a terrible, bloody battle. And eventually, he brought the Prince to his knees. The demon possessing the Young Prince howled in fury at the loss, but with a solid blow, the demon was silenced and the Prince fell unconscious. When it was over, the Lord turned to the Prince's people and told them how to lift the demon's spell."

Sesshomaru's lips twisted in disbelief and he huffed shortly. "He should have killed him."

"Many thought he would have," Kagome said. "But do you know what the Lord said when asked why he didn't?" Sesshomaru shook his head, and she smiled. "He said that there was no victory to be had when his enemy had not the mind to look upon his face and see his death."

"He wanted a warrior's victory."

"Perhaps," Kagome agreed. "Perhaps he believed that even an enemy should have an honorable death. But then, perhaps it was that after so long in conflict with the Young Prince the Lord had grown to respect him, as well. Perhaps it was that he never intended to kill him, but only to stop the demon that had taken control. Perhaps he realized that at the end of the day both he and the Young Prince had fought for the same cause and that they were not enemies at all."

"And perhaps the Lord was simply trying to help his brother. Would that not be a fitting ending to your fairytale?"

Kagome scowled, refusing to acknowledge Toga's remark. "I'm not talking to you," she bit out in annoyance without bothering to turn to him.

"And you are doing a remarkable job of it."

"Ha Ha," she remarked dryly. "You're so funny." Turning to Sesshomaru, she asked, "Is he always this annoying?" But Sesshomaru wisely kept his mouth shut. So, with an elaborate huff, Kagome snapped her head around to glare at the Inu. "What?" she snapped. "You already ruined my day and my story. What's next?"

"Woman…"

"Kagome," she interrupted.

His lip lifted marginally to reveal a sharp glint of razor fangs before he caught himself. Giving himself a hard mental shake, he reset himself. "You blood has been attracting many unwanted guests."

"And it is so nice of you to have dispatched them all," she replied, her words so sugar-coated they were bitter. He continued glaring at her, and Kagome shifted uncomfortably before looking back to the fire. "There isn't anything I can do about it," she said curtly. "I got hit with an arrow and I don't exactly have your healing abilities. I bound the wound and burned all the cloths I used to wipe the others clean. But without anything to stitch it, you're just going to have to live with it until my stupid mortal body catches up. Alright?"

"No."

Kagome twisted back to look at him. "Excuse me?"

"I will not have you attracting predators with my son in the vicinity. I will seal the wound."

"You've got to be shitting me."

He lifted an eyebrow slowly. "I am going to assume that you imply I jest."

"Duh."

He blinked at her response, but quickly brushed it off and reached to his side. Kagome tensed when she saw his hand touch the hilt of one of his fangs. "You can't!" she said quickly, lifting her hands in a warding gesture. "Tenseiga will hurt me, not heal me."

He paused. "What do you know of Tenseiga?"

Rolling her eyes elaborately, Kagome replied, "A sword that can not cut. Forged to bring life not take it. The Fang of Heaven, capable of reviving a hundred souls in a single sweep of its blade. Brother to Tetsusaiga, the Protector of Man, capable of sending a hundred demons to the afterlife with one draw. Together, they are two of the three swords of Supreme Conquest. So'unga completes the triangle. The blade of the Netherworld, capable of brining one hundred condemned souls back from hell. United, the three worlds become one. And whomsoever wields all three could rule the world."

"You know of So'unga?"

"Did you not listen to a word I just said?"

His brow furrowed slightly in contemplation. "Then the Wars…You know of their outcome?"

Kagome nodded weakly before looking back to the fire. "From the battle torn fields where men waged the Wars of the Worlds arose a General of such strength and such courage that even Heaven and Earth fought by his side. Into the fiery pits of hell he descended, and upon his return he held aloft the ultimate weapon of madness and destruction. But his will was stronger than tempered steel, and he silenced the voice of war, bringing peace back to the land."

Forcing a smile, she looked over to Sesshomaru. "Your old man's a legend where I come from." She shook her head slowly and sighed. "But he's right. You shouldn't be here with me if I'm going to be drawing out the worst kinds of trouble with my stink."

"You don't stink." He must have realized what he'd said after he had said it, because he immediately pulled back from her, his eyes widening in shock and the markings on his skin deepening in the shadows of the night.

Kagome giggled at his reaction. "Thanks, kid. But according to the big dog over there, I do. So I guess this is where we say goodbye…"

"Sesshomaru." Toga interrupted the miko's farewell by addressing his son. "Do you remember the Waterweeds?" When the boy nodded, Toga gestured vaguely to the south. "Fetch some and return quickly."

Confused, but unwilling to question his father, Sesshomaru nodded, gave the miko one last glance, and then quickly set out of camp to find the herb.

But while Sesshomaru wasn't going to ask, Kagome was. "Waterweeds?"

"A Plant that grows in arid environments and maintains a fluidic sap," Toga replied. "It is used for the treatment of burns."

He took a step towards her, but Kagome quickly scooted back from him. "Oh, no! No way, mister! I've seen that cauterizing stuff in the movies, and it looks like it hurts like hell. You best look elsewhere for your sadistic pleasure, 'cause you are NOT putting a burning anything on my skin!"

Toga smirked, and Kagome backed away from him even further. His hand lifted from his side and he flexed his claws. "Who said anything about burning?" he asked silkily.

All of the blood drained from her face as Kagome took in the sight of his deadly claws. She gulped. Hard. "You're not…serious?" she squeaked out.

But he was.

_Oh…fuck…,_ was all she could think as she watched him take another slow step in her direction.

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I'm crazy. It is currently 3:30 in the morning. I have to get up for work in 3 hours! But I had to get this up before I left for the weekend. So, hope everyone enjoyed.

Later

Shadow


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Don't you come any closer!"

Having snatched her bow from its resting place by her side, Kagome was holding it in front of herself in a warding gesture against the approaching demon. Her arrows, of course, were all the way on the other side of the fire and of absolutely no use when facing off against a being that could have her in his claws before she managed to blink let alone make a dash for her weaponry. The only reason her bow had been handy was because she had been using it as a convenient poker for the fire (something she was sure Kaede would have lectured her about for weeks, but which now she had a good defense as to why it was a good idea to be so reckless with her weapon). She was screwed, and she knew it. But that didn't mean she was about to let the big dog turn her into some Feudal era version of his own personal scratching post. No sir!

Toga took another step closer to the crouching priestess, but stopped when she flared her aura powerfully to expend a sweeping wave of brilliant white light. It was a defensive gesture, he knew, one not meant to bring him harm; but it still ripped across his senses like blades of white fire, singeing and cutting through his defenses at the same time as soothing against the eternal blaze of his own power.

"Woman," he addressed her curtly. "Be reasonable. Sealing you wounds will mute you scent as well as reinforce your body's defenses."

"My defenses are just fine!" Kagome bit out in a low, gravely voice grating with annoyance and frustration. Proving her point, she allowed the swell of energy surrounding her to expand, flooding the camp with the radiant light as it drifted gently across every surface like a gentle wave. She watched him tense against the assault, and she smirked. "Come any closer and I'll be forced to prove it to you."

He brushed his hand through the heated air in front of him in dismissal. "Unnecessary. I intend you no harm."

"Easy for you to say!" Kagome cried in outrage. "But I'm the one that already had a close encounter with your fangs today. I am NOT about to get up close and personal with you claws too!"

He paused for a moment as he debated her words, but then shook his head. "You can not hold me accountable for something I have not done."

"Why not?" she asked venomously. "You held me accountable. You blamed me for Inuyasha's dreams of the future; a future that no longer was after my wish on the Jewel. We had fought so hard for so long. And he remembered. Maybe it was only a dream, but it was a dream that was real to him!" Filled with rage so hot it carried out from her in the searing waves of energy surrounding her body, Kagome lifted herself to her feet in a rush of hard fury and leveled the tip of her bow at the Inu. "You took that from him. And from me. My wish gave you back your life, and you repaid me by stealing mine!"

The sharp lances of wild power streaking from the bow's tip forced Toga to take action against her. But rather than bringing his own weapons to bear, he moved in on her in a rush of speed, taking hold of the bow's glowing length and pushing it to the side. It burned against his hand, the crimson fires of his spirit raging against the pure light; but he held firm. "I have taken nothing from you!" he bit out, his velvet voice tarnished by the thick undertones of raw power rising just beneath the surface. He pulled hard against the heated wood of her weapon, ripping it from her hands.

The brilliance of the light died almost instantly, the young miko left at a loss without her weapon, but held by more than simply her vulnerability. She was breaking, he could see it in the dark azure of her eyes, in the way the surfaces no longer glinted with fire and fury but were muted behind a fog of pain and hurt. How? He couldn't help but wonder. How was it that she could stand so strongly against him, show no fear and no hesitations when so many others would have cowered and begged for his leniency? How could she be so strong but at the same time so weak that she could be bound so by something as fleeting as a memory and a dream?

He stepped back from her, giving her room to collect herself, and held out her bow. "Your life can only be what you make it."

Hesitantly, Kagome reached out and took hold of her weapon. Her hands closed over the polished surface tentatively, as though it were a burden simply too heavy to bear. "What does it matter," she asked in a trembling voice, "when everyone I've ever loved can't even remember who I am?

"The mind is a mysterious thing," he replied. "But the heart is stranger still. Sometimes, even when the mind has forgotten, the heart still remembers."

Slowly, she lifted her haunted eyes to his. "Tell me," she asked of him quietly, "something to make me believe you again."

For a long time, he said nothing, but Kagome could see the way he was looking at her, the way his anger and hostility had been replaced with contemplation and resignation. She waited.

Eventually, he spoke. "I can not defeat him."

"Who?"

He looked away from her, hiding his troubled eyes. "Memnon." The word was spoken so quietly it was as though he feared the mere mention of the name would condemn them all. "The Master of So'unga. He forged to blade in the fires of his eternal prison of his own talons; and after an eternity of searching he found a way to unleash it upon the mortal plane. Now, the sword has but one mission:

_Corrupt the hearts of men. Fuel the fires of war. Have them spill blood and take life. And let that life become mine._

"So'unga gathers its minions of war, biding its time until it has procured enough lives to free Memnon from his prison. If it succeeds, if the gates of hell are opened and Memnon takes hold of So'unga's dark power, then he will not stop until every living being is destroyed and the minions of his hell are the only things that remain on this plane."

"Are you saying that So'unga was never of this world? It wasn't meant to be a weapon at all, but a key?"

Toga nodded solemnly. "A key that will only work once it has been fueled by the blood of lost souls, one which once awakened will bring the end of the world."

"There's so much of this story that I don't know."

"But how much more is there?" Toga asked as he turned his focus back to the young miko. "That I return from the fires of the battle with So'unga does not necessarily mean that Memnon was defeated." He shook his head slowly. "I am not certain that he can be." When he looked back to Kagome, his eyes were hard with conviction and determination. "If I was left with the choice between dying in a hopeless battle and escaping with not only my life but the very weapon that the creature sought to make its power ultimate; then I do not believe that the decision would be very difficult."

Blinking in surprise, Kagome asked, "What are you saying?"

"I have thought much of what you have told me," he replied. "And I can think of no other power that would bring such destruction and fear that I would seek to alter the very flow of time, than Memnon. I believe that the 'demon' you spoke of that was sealed by the Shikon was Memnon. I believe that in sending you to me now, I was trying to find a way to defeat him before that was allowed to happen."

He stepped closer to her again, but this time Kagome did not back away. "Perhaps this is the right path," he said quietly. "Perhaps it is not. I don't know. I suppose I will never understand why I made the choices I did in a future I will never know. But whatever the future may bring, here, now, I know that I will fight, that I must. I can not speak for you, nor would I expect you to understand when I am not certain I understand myself. But, perhaps, together we could make a better future for all of us, a future that will never be burdened with Memnon's power or the curse of the Shikon."

Hope echoed in his words, faith whispered in his tone, and in his eyes burned a passion for life that she could feel filling her with its consuming warmth. This was the General. This was the one whose will still carried on even centuries after his death. This was the one that would take on the world and walk away still standing tall. But what was more; she could see in him none of the dark burden he had carried in the future, none of the deep regret and painful longing. He was solid with conviction, his power fueled by a will so strong and a passion so hot they met together in raining blaze that ignited the golden fires burning in his eyes.

She knew what he was asking of her. She knew what going with him would mean. She knew what would be changed, and what could never be the same again. She knew these things, knew that there would be no turning back; but she knew as well that, like him, she couldn't walk away from this fight. He had said that he would, said that he had in the future she had known; but he was saying he didn't want to, didn't want to leave this burden to another, wanted to stand and fight through to the end, wanted to find the victory that they had all been denied.

And he was telling her that he couldn't do it alone. He was asking for her help.

"It just wouldn't be right," she said slowly, a devious twist pulling on her lips, "if I let you steal all the glory a second time around."

Confusion flashed through his eyes, a shifting of amber beneath the placid golden surfaces. But he quickly recovered himself, saying with a low chuckle, "You are an unusual woman."

"This coming from a talking dog," she quipped in retort.

He laughed again, the sound rich and full, making her want to laugh along with him. But his laughter slowly faded as his focus began to shift. Kagome could see that his eyes were trained on the line of puncture wounds running along her neck, and she brought a hand up to rub along the swollen markings uncomfortably. When he lifted his hand from his side, she tensed in uncertainty. But he waited patiently for her to relent, his eyes moving to find hers and catch her in his steady gaze.

"I am sorry," he told her quietly as his fingers brushed against her neck in a delicate caress, "if I have hurt you."

Catching his hand timidly with her own, Kagome slowly lifted it until she could brush her cheek over his palm. She felt him stiffen, but then relax his claws to allow himself to cup her face in a tender hold. She smiled faintly and closed her eyes to feel the full heat of his touch. "It is the pain," she whispered, "That lets you know you're alive."

Pulling back, Kagome turned her back to Toga as her hands worked shakily at undoing her blouse. "Let's get this over with," she said quickly, trying to hide her embarrassment, "Before Sesshomaru gets back."

"The boy is accustomed to battle and injury," Toga said from behind her.

Kagome's hands stilled on the last button. "I know," she said slowly, but with a sharp shake of her head, she managed to finish undoing the button. Pulling her blouse away from the tight wrappings of gauze and padded bandages that covered her midsection just below her bra, she gestured absently down the length of her body. "I just don't want him to see me like this."

"You have nothing he has not seen before."

"Not undressed, you hentai!" Kagome yelled as she spun around to face him. "Weak, okay? I don't want him to see me weak." Releasing a harsh breath, she tore her eyes away from his. "Just forget it," she said as she kneeled down to the ground, her bow planted firmly ahead of her and holding the lean of her weight. When she finally looked back to him, her eyes were hard. "Are we going to do this or not?"

Tilting his head, Toga looked over the young miko carefully. He understood the needing to harden oneself against a coming pain, but did she have to be so….bitchy? But, shrugging it off, Toga lowered himself down next to the miko and began cutting through the wrappings concealing her wound.

"The bindings are done well," he observed, a minor distraction to the girl as he began pulling the padding sticky with her blood from where it had sealed against the opening in her skin.

"I've had…a lot of practice," she hissed out through clenching teeth. Taking a deep breath once the last rip of pain had passed, she added, "Inuyasha had a nose for trouble, and he paid for it more often than not. I always ended up binding wounds on him that would have killed me ten times over." Hissing again when the last bandage was peeled away, Kagome panted to catch her lost breath. "I always thought he had it so easy, not having to put up with injuries like this for more than a day. But he never saw it that way. He would have been like Sesshomaru, able to heal almost any wound with hardly a thought. He just could never be satisfied with being a hanyou."

A sharp pain ripped through her side, and Kagome screamed shrilly. "What the fuck!" She cried in outrage as she pulled back from Toga, her arm wrapping around her side to catch the new flow of blood. "You're supposed to be sealing that wound not making it bigger!"

His eyes were wide with shock, as though he hadn't realized what he had done. "I apologize," he said quickly. "I did not mean to…"

Narrowing her eyes sharply in suspicion, Kagome cut him off. "Don't worry about it," she said tersely. Resetting her grip on her bow, she drew in a deep breath and held it. "Let's get this over with."

Toga's fingers twitched as he reached out again to the young miko. He paused and pulled back. Before, he had not thought anything of healing the girl's wounds. It was the most reasonable course of action. But now, he was…hesitant to touch her, feel the heat of her skin, know the curves of her body.

_Hanyou._ A human mate? It wasn't as though he bore any ill will to the humans; he had simply never considered such a thing an option. They were so fragile, their emotions so volatile, and their lives so very short. But then, he knew well what it was to loose a mate. It was not surprising that he would seek another in the future.

Giving himself a hard mental shake, Toga tore his thoughts away from future possibilities and brought his attention back to the young miko. Now was not the time for such thoughts. He would see to her injuries as he would any other ally. It was as simple as that.

Of course, it wasn't as simple as that. And the soft, coursing shivers that ran through the miko's petite frame when he spread his hand along her side and began applying pressure to draw the skin together was only the beginning. When his claws first pierced her skin, the strangled cry she released was almost enough to make him pull back before he could release enough corrosive poison to seal the flesh together. But he forced himself to ignore her cries, forced himself to continue without hearing, without feeling.

When at last he had finished, the miko was trembling, her body rigid with shock. He leaned over her, wrapping his hands around hers and gently prying her fingers away from their deadly grip on her bow. "Breath," he told her gently as he pulled her trembling body against his. "Just breathe."

She drew in several long, shaky breaths; but it did not lessen the trembling of her body or the soft heaving of her chest as she sobbed quietly. Turning her carefully, Toga wrapped her in a more soothing embrace. With her head cradled in his left arm, he lifted her legs and drew her up onto his lap. She held herself stiff at first, but slowly began to relax. Her breathing steadied and the trembling in her limbs faded to only an occasional tremor.

Still, she refused to look at him, keeping her eyes squeezed closed and her head turned away. But Toga could still see the hot path of her tears as they streamed down her face. He brought his hand up to her cheek and gently brushed them away. "It is over," he said quietly. "…Kagome."

Drawing in a shaky breath, Kagome blinked her eyes open to look at him. "Toga…" Her head suddenly snapped around to look over her shoulder. "What is that?"

Toga quickly tilted his nose to catch the wind. Blood. He had been so close to the miko's that it had overpowered the other scent. It was human blood. But not hers. And it had been spilled by…A low growl started vibrating in his chest.

Tightening his grip on the miko, Toga stood and set her on her feet. She swayed only once, but caught herself quickly. "What is it?" she asked again, her right hand reaching for the bow standing in the ground beside her.

His growl increasing in volume, Toga scanned the trees surrounding the camp. "Sesshomaru."

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Oh look, another cliffie. Kukukukuku! Who saw that coming? –Shadow raises her hand…and laughs maniacally--

Well I've certainly had a productive day. I wrote a chapter for Twilight, and managed to get about halfway through the finale of Tears. Pretty good, eh? It must be all that vacationing. –sigh-- too bad it couldn't last forever. Then again, I think I was more tired when I got back from my vacation than before I went…hmmm…funny how that happens. Must have been all that fresh air getting to my head ;P

A/N: Lol I don't know why I put that. This is all an author's note. But about the story, I just thought I would share that I was sorely tempted to name the bad guy in this fic Naraku. I figured I could always twist the plot to my favor to make it happen, but then I reconsidered. I ended up settling on Memnon, and I think it works well this way. --shrugs-- just in case anyone wanted to know.

Anyways, I guess it's time for me to get.

Later all

Shadow


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_How in the world does that kid manage to find so much trouble for himself? Oh, wait, never mind. It's Sesshomaru. Should I expect anything less?_

Kagome decided firmly that, no, she really shouldn't have expected anything less from Sesshomaru. He was, after all, the Killing Perfection; and if she were to lay bets on it, and she so would have, she would have bet that the Sesshomaru she had known from her past had had a great deal of practice at being the assassin. Of course, this situation was _slightly_ different, being that now he wasn't exactly the same ruthless Lord she had known but a child, a rather sweet child if you were to ask her, and also it wasn't he that was currently hunting down his targets but him being hunted and proving to be a deadly prey.

The Demon Slayers. She should have known they wouldn't have given up on their target so easily. A little distance put between them in the air had only managed to stave off the assault for a short while. They had still been able to track them. How, she wasn't very certain, but she knew enough about Slayers to know they always had a trick or two up their sleeves.

Tricks such as those nasty smoke bombs they would use on scent sensitive youkai that would make their heightened senses all but useless, if, of course, they could manage to stay conscious after the potent assault. Inuyasha had been knocked out for hours when Sango had ignited the smoke bombs, just as Kirara would likely be now after the smoke had spread its way into their camp like an eerie reminiscence of the dark spill of miasma. And Toga, though trying to hide his groggy reactions and his disorientation, was likely three quarters of the way there.

Kagome knew something had to be done. And fast.

"Stay here," she told the Inu as she started towards the trees.

"Woman…"

"Don't even think about it!" she snapped back over her shoulder. "I can find him. Stay away from the smoke, and keep your ears open for trouble."

_Was that…a…whine? _"Toga," she said, her eyes softening. "Trust me. I brought him back once. I will do it again."

He hesitated for a moment, but then nodded shortly in acceptance and Kagome turned from him and headed into the trees. The smoke was everywhere, covering the bows and branches of the trees in a thick blanket and slipping through the leaves and brush of the undergrowth like a thick soup churning against the heat. She had brought her arm up to cover her face, warding against the suffocating mist; but she was still wracked with terrible fits of chocking coughs. Realizing how ineffective her efforts were, especially considering she needed the use of her arms to wield her weapon, she shrugged off her loosely hanging blouse and quickly tied it around her nose and mouth.

_It'll have to do_, she thought as she continued tripping her way through the thick maze of trees and smoke. She had barely made it more than a hundred yards, and already her breathing was so labored and broken by chokes and coughs that her head was swimming with dizziness. But she pressed forward, knowing how close she was fueling her determination.

As she drew closer to the youkai aura she had centered on, she was suddenly able to draw air into her starving lungs. The sting of poison was still on the air, but it was no longer that of man. It flowed into her lungs like liquid fire, igniting all of her senses and bringing to bear her innate defenses.

_Smart kid. He's using his poison to burn through the smoke._ Moving more quickly now, Kagome pushed her way through the trees. She began to hear the shouts of the Demon Slayers. They were muffled and muted from traveling by their smoke shields, but Kagome knew how the masks worked, and she also knew that the Slayers were not immune to the poison upon the air that carried along with theirs.

A terrible cry sounded out to her left, and Kagome instantly knew what it meant. Another one had been taken down by his claws. Her jaw tightened. _How many must die for you to find peace, Sesshomaru?_

But the other Slayers had heard the death of one of their own, and were moving closer.

Willing herself to be there first, Kagome sprinted for Sesshomaru.

The shouts were all around her. She knew they were there, but she couldn't see them through the smoke. Her senses were alert, but the human aura was so pale in comparison to the crimson fires, nothing more that a slight parting of the dark cloud. When they were together, they were so strong, a sharp light bleeding through the darkness. But alone, and slipping through the smoke as the silent hunters, she could not find the Slayers.

_What is…? _A blue light appeared into her vision, growing steadily with every step she took.

_NO!_ A sharp yelp was accompanied with a hard crash in the trees just ahead of her.

Using stores of strength she didn't know she had, she ripped through the final section of the forest. She drew her weapon without thought, and when she broke through the final line of trees, she halted only long enough to draw her aim.

The smoke parted in a falling cascade of darkness against the brilliant light of her arrow. In the final instant before it hit, she saw the man's eyes turn to her, wide with shock and terror. But Kagome knew her aim to be true. The impact tore the glowing blade from the man's hand, turning him with the force of the blow.

Wasting no time, Kagome drew another arrow, setting it and drawing her aim again before the man recovered.

"Don't move!" She yelled out to him as she began taking steps forward.

He righted himself, turning stiffly and slowly to face her. Only his eyes were visible above the dark outline of his smoke shield, but even so Kagome could see the dark light of recognition that spread through them when his focus finally settled on her.

"I don't want to hurt you," she told him steadily, moving closer again. "But I will not allow you to harm that pup."

Taking another step, Kagome planted herself firmly in front of where Sesshomaru had been brought down. He had recovered from the earlier blow, but was holding his position in her presence, keeping his body tight in a low crouch and ready to spring.

"It is the will of the Lady Miko that creature slaughtered." The man gestured shortly towards the gleaming blade on the ground. "Stand in the way of her justice, and you too will pay the price."

"Miko justice?" Kagome scoffed. "What a crock! A true Miko brings light and love and healing to the people and the land. They battle because they have no choice, and give their lives freely to their faith and their cause. They do not seek revenge as you would so crudely label 'justice'. I once knew a Taijiya. She was the fiercest warrior I had ever known. But she knew the difference between a hunt and a disgrace. Do you?"

The man said nothing, his eyes hard and filled with furious rage and bloodlust, and Kagome's lip lifted into a disgusted sneer. "You are not worthy of the title of Slayer."

She took a step back. "Sesshomaru." She motioned him back with a sharp jerk of her head without turning her eyes from the man. "We're leaving."

"You will not escape."

Taking another step back, Kagome replied. "Watch me."

_There…_ The man's eyes had shifted. Beyond her, concealed in the smoke, another stood waiting.

_Please…_ She swung around, dropping into a crouch as she released her arrow.

It sliced through the heavy air with a sharp hiss, followed by a startled cry. The man fell from his concealment, his body tucked and rolling to the ground as his injured leg recoiled from the assault.

But with her attention turned elsewhere, the other man sprang into action. He pulled a longknife from his armguard and lunged at the young miko with a wild cry. She hardly even had time to register the sound before her senses were fired by a strong current of energy sweeping past her in a wild rush. She threw herself to the ground, muttering an oath when she heard the sharp crack of a whip on the air and the man screaming in agony.

When she lifted her head, Sesshomaru stood in front of her, his attention focused on the kneeling man. "Sesshomaru!" she shouted as she pulled herself up. "Enough!" She grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him back. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the crumpled form of the first man. She sighed in relief when she saw the short rise and fall of his chest that signaled he was still breathing.

Another step and the sharp break of a branch underfoot in the nearby trees sounded out.

"Let me go!"

Kagome paid no heed to Sesshomaru's barked order. She pulled him closer. "Listen to me, Sesshomaru. I want you to take a deep breath and take to the trees." She lifted her arm and pointed in the direction of the camp. "Head straight in that direction until you reach your father."

His eyes narrowed. "No."

"Yes." she returned firmly. "You don't want to be around me when I light this place up. Go!"

She shoved him hard, but he caught himself easily and spun back to face her.

A loud explosion nearby ignited the shadows of the forest with a searing blaze. A tree cracked and shattered, releasing a deep groan of protest before its branches could be heard crashing through the canopy.

"GO!" Kagome said again, flaring her powers in a forceful surge that spread around her in a heated wake.

Sesshomaru stumbled back when the first wave hit him. He growled lowly as he tried to find his footing against the painful push of her powers. But he was slipping and loosing ground. Finally, with a fierce snarl, he pushed off strongly from the ground and took to the trees.

Once she was certain he was gone, Kagome moved over the downed slayer. Careful of his movements, she reached down and pulled off his smoke shield. As she was fitting the mask in place over her own make-shift shield, a faint glimmer in the grass caught her eye.

_Midoriko…_ Why had the blade led the Slayers here? Had it truly been showing them the way to Sesshomaru? Or was it to someone else?

The sharp whistle of an object slicing through the air gave Kagome all the encouragement she needed. She dropped quickly, tucking her body to roll against the ground as she evaded the attack. The hard impact against one of the trees behind her sounded just as she reached her target. Her hand molded to its hilt, the blade washing her with a warming surge of light. She rolled through to her knees and drew herself up.

"Alright boys," she said darkly as her hand tightened around the sword and its entire length was ignited with a blinding surge of white fire. "Come and get me."

Willing her powers to bear, she forced everything she had into the blade and swept it before her in a long arc. Sharp lances of searing light exploded from the blade, cutting outwards in streaks so brilliant they were blinding.

But Kagome wasted no time. She spun quickly away and started into the trees again. She was only given moments before the Slayers that had surrounded her recovered from their daze and they began pursuit, but moments had been enough. With the light of the Miko's blade cutting her path through the thick darkness of the smoke and shadows, she made her way with ease.

They were still following her, but without the light to guide them, and without the ability to see its gleam in the concealing smoke, Kagome was gaining ground. She twisted and wound her way through the trees, leading the Slayers away from the camp and breaking the distance between them more with every step. But her steps were faltering, becoming heavy and leaden with exhaustion. Still, she pressed herself forwards, forced herself to take one step and then another.

_Just a little further,_ she kept telling herself. _Just a little more time. _

But her time had run out along with the path ahead.

She skidded to an abrupt stop when the path she had been following suddenly dropped off in front of her. _Oh, you've got to be kidding me!_

Turning back, Kagome could hear the muffled sounds of her pursuers gaining on her again. _Shit! Shit! Shit!_ She looked back down to the ravine that spread out below. Under the light of the moon, a shifting flash of silver waters could be seen at the base of the dropoff she stood upon.

_Too far. Way too far!_

Looking around, Kagome tried frantically to pick another path. But the ravine spread out for hundreds of yards on either side, there was nothing but forest behind her, and the Slayers were steadily approaching from her back.

The only way to go…was down.

Taking in a deep breath, Kagome reached up to rip the smokescreen away from her face and lifted her voice to the sky. "Toga! A little help would be nice!" She backed slowly towards the edge, the sound of her pursuers growing steadily louder. "Like, now!" She took another slow step, but the ground under her feet gave way and crumbled down the bank of the cliff forcing her to draw back. She swallowed thickly and looked to the trees.

_No more time. Toga…_

From her vantage point in the clear of the trees, she could see the outlines of the men as they approached. The one closest to her lifted a weapon, and she knew it was now or never. Taking in a deep breath, she sent a silent plea to the heavens and let herself fall.

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Lol gotta love those cliffs that just jump up out of nowhere ;P They're the best kind! Well, Kagome probably doesn't think so, being that she seems to have an uncanny knack for running into them/over them; but I do so that's what counts!

So, please leave a review to tell me if you love it, hate it, whatever. I just like to read them. They get me all excited to writ more ;P

Well, I guess that's all for tonight.

Later

Shadow


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_Fluffy…_

High on adrenaline from her brush with death, when Kagome felt herself stop in her fall abruptly, her weight being settled down into a soft cushion of silky fur, she started giggling like a lunatic.

"_**Stupid, stupid human."**_

"Eh?" Kagome sat up abruptly on the massive back of the Inu that was rumbling with deep, angry vibrations that shook through her entire body. Scanning over the mounds of white fur and the bulk of his shifting muscles, Kagome caught sight of Sesshomaru resting easily between the Inu's shoulderblades.

He looked back to her, a wicked smirk on his lips. "Father says what you did was foolish."

"No he didn't," Kagome said as she carefully picked her way through Toga's fur to move closer to Sesshomaru, one hand holding tightly to the Miko's blade and the other held out to her side to steady her movements. One particular slip of her foot had her grabbing firmly onto the youkai's fur.

It earned her a growl.

"_**Sesshomaru, tell that wench to…"**_

"WHAT did you just call me?!" Kagome screamed in outrage as she tugged hard at the Inu's fur and stamped her foot down for added impact.

He shifted abruptly, his muscular frame tucking and bracing for landing. The impact was startling, and Kagome was thrown from her feet, slamming hard into the Inu's back as he skidded to a stop on the rocky shoreline of the river in the ravine.

He twisted his head back to look over his shoulder, focusing on her with blazing crimson eyes. His jaw was parted, revealing rows of deadly fangs gleaming with moisture that dripped down from his great maw in fuming streams of corrosive acid.

"_**You can hear me?"**_

Scowling as she pulled herself up from his fur, Kagome spit, "Of course I can hear you, you baka! So, thanks so much for the warning on that landing!" She got fully to her feet, brushing herself off angrily before she planted her left hand on her hip and shook the tip of the Miko's blade at his nose in aggravation. "I probably could have done better without you catching me!"

He growled lowly, his fangs snapping tightly in irritation. _**"Perhaps next time I shall let you fall so stupidly to your death!"**_

"Quit calling me stupid!" she screamed in retaliation. "What's your problem anyways? We all got out, didn't we?"

Another fierce tremor shook through his frame, and Kagome had to brace her footing against the vibration. _**"I do not appreciate having to adopt this form so openly!"**_

"Why not? You're a dog, aren't you? What's the big deal?"

With a snarl, Toga snapped his attention to Sesshomaru. _**"Get her off of me,"**_ he growled irritably.

Sesshomaru stood and made his way over to the young miko. He held out the small bundle he was carrying to her. "I can not carry you and the feline," he told her curtly.

"But I don't get it," Kagome said as she took Kirara from Sesshomaru. "What's his problem?"

But Sesshomaru only shook his head and stepped beside her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and clasped his claws together tightly. "You may hold on to me if you wish."

With a small smile gracing her lips, Kagome shifted her hold on the slumbering two-tail and wrapped her free arm around Sesshomaru's neck. Not quite being able to hold it back, a soft snicker slipped through her lips when she was reminded again of how short he was in this time. He was hardly to her shoulders, and she could barely keep her arm around his unless she tucked her legs slightly.

"You sure you can carry me?" she asked with another light snicker. "You are kinda a little runt."

He growled and snapped his jaw. "I am stronger than you, human."

He pushed off hard from his father's back, and took them to the air. Kagome giggled the whole way to the ground, teasing playfully on the descent, "Yeah, but you're still shorter!"

The ground came up a little faster than she had been expecting it…mostly because Sesshomaru had seen it fit to drop her to it when they were still a good six feet in the air. But she caught her balance quickly, swaying only slightly due to her mirthful giggles as she bent to lower the still-sleeping Kirara to the ground. In the past she had known if anyone had dared to talk to Sesshomaru the way she was, they would have promptly found themselves without a head. But here, now, it was just so much fun! And the best part about it was that she could tell that the deep rumbles of displeasure he was releasing in response to her jibes weren't quite as displeased with her games as he might have had them seem.

"Whoa…" Pulled away from her giggle fit, Kagome drew in a deep breath and turned towards the strong currents of power that were drawing up all around her. The sudden burst of crimson fires had her shielding her eyes from the heat of the burn, but still she watched, mesmerized by the wild motions as they shifted and danced together. They pulled back from the massive size they had sustained, drawing tighter and burning more fiercely against each other. And then, with a final outpouring of energy, his form solidified within the blaze and Toga stepped out of the fires.

His features were set in a hard scowl, the sharp line of his jaw held tight and his thick brows pulled together angrily. His eyes were furious, still bleeding with wisps of the crimson fires. "Insufferable woman, have you any idea what you have just done?"

Staring at him blankly, Kagome replied, "…No?"

He growled viciously and took a tense step towards her. "You have given away my position to any who would seek to have it known. You have endangered us all by asking me to come to your aid in such a way!"

"Hey now!" Holding up her hand with a sharp warding gesture, Kagome took a step back to widen her stance. "Back up mister! I never asked you to go Super Pooch on me! There are other ways for you to break the sound barrier with your speed!"

"The smoke."

"Sesshomaru," Toga growled in warning.

The pup's eyes flashed to his father briefly, but he tilted his chin up and looked back to the young miko. "The smoke is disorienting because it disrupts all of the senses. Sound travels, but not as it should. Vision is blocked. And scent becomes nothing but a black burn that clouds the consciousness. The effects are lasting. One exposure can mean several hours of disorientation if consciousness remains. Rather than forcing the way through and exposing us all to another dose, father took us directly to you with one leap. Any other method may not have been as accurate without full use of the senses, or as easily corrected."

"Okay," Kagome drawled out slowly. "So the big dog had his nose twitched. Understandable. I've seen others drop like stones when that smoke was released. So how come you seemed to have been getting along just fine out there?"

The boy stiffened instantly, his eyes widening in uneasiness, and breaking with a sharp clash of amber deep within the golden surfaces. He turned away quickly, pushing off from the stones of the river valley and taking to the nearby trees.

"Was it something I said?" Kagome asked as she turned back to Toga.

Toga said nothing for a moment, his eyes trained in the direction Sesshomaru had left in. But, with a slight shake of his head, he moved closer to Kagome, dropping his voice into a hushed tone. "Sesshomaru is unusually resistant to almost all forms of poison. Unfortunately, his mother was not."

"Was?"

Nodding stiffly, though still not looking at her, Toga replied, "She was still carrying when the attack came. She had been gathering stores for the den. It would have been her first litter. Three in all. She had been so excited, and she wanted everything to be perfect. As I did…" he trailed off for a moment, lost in memories and painful tidings. But, closing his eyes tightly against the memories, he forced himself to speak. "By the time I reached her, it was already too late. Whatever poison they had used on their blades had soaked into her blood and was killing her and the pups she carried. There was nothing I could do to stop it."

He shifted, bringing his hand down against Tenseiga and drawing it in one fluid motion. He held it out before him, the blade catching the glint of the moonlight, making it glow with silver radiance. "An oath," he said as he looked upon the blade. "To never let it happen again."

"Toga…" Kagome called his name softly, taking a step towards him and reaching out to set a comforting hand upon his arm.

But he pulled away from her abruptly, his eyes flashing in the darkness, fierce and hard as they turned to her. "Destruction of the Circle of Life. Of all of them, one pup lived, tearing his way from his own mother's womb to take his first breath even as she took her last. But I did not see the blood and the death. When I looked upon him for the first time, all that I saw…was perfection."

Kagome drew in a sharp breath. "Sesshomaru…"

"Yes," he bit out, his eyes narrowing fiercely on the young priestess. "Does it disgust you, miko, to know the truth? That he is youkai born of death?"

She blinked, pulling back slightly from the ferocity of his tone. "No," she said with a shake of her head. "I think it is sad. For her, for them all, to have died like that. But that he survived…it is truly a blessing."

"A blessing," he scoffed. "From one of your mortal Gods? From your holy shrines and your faith that give you your powers? You, miko, protector of man; how many of my kind have you slain? And yet, even when threatened with your life, you still held back against those men. I felt your power, knew what you were capable of; but still you did nothing to stop them. You retreated, cornered yourself, and then forced me into taking an action that I would never have done were it not for His debt to you!"

Recoiling from his verbal assault on her as though she had been struck, Kagome gaped at the Inu. But, as the shock faded from her, she could feel the hot burn of her anger rising. "You call me stupid?" she hissed out. "You're the one that's stupid! Do you have any idea what would have happened if I had killed one of those men? Whatever powers I have, I have because I have the heart to wield them. If that heart is blackened by regret and remorse over the death of an innocent…"

"You dare to call them innocents?!" Toga cut in with a furious roar. "They were out for blood! They will not stop until every one of my kind is dead! There is nothing innocent about them!"

"We are all innocent in a war that has no point, where lives are taken out of fear because they do not know anything else!" She shook her head sharply. "I thought if anyone would understand that, it would be you."

Stepping closer to him, Kagome lifted her eyes to burn into his in accusation. "Tell me something, Toga. Why do you really fight this war against So'unga and its master? Is it really to see the land remain free of his power and dark corruption, or is it because you can not stand the idea that if a mortal man were to gain possession of the Underworld blade that he would have more power than you."

His eyes narrowed fiercely. "My reasons are my own."

"And you expect me to fight with you only on faith?" she scoffed. "You have shown me nothing to give me even the slightest bit of faith in you! You've lied to me, deceived me, betrayed me, hurt me in more than simply my flesh; and when I think that you might be showing me something true and real, you prove me wrong by turning on me again, lashing out at me because you're too fucking proud to admit even to yourself that you can't do everything, that you need help just like everyone else!"

The fierce rip of his snarl shook against the rocks of the valley and stirred the water in the river to ripple in unsteady vibration. He lifted his hand against her.

Kagome flinched away from him, but slowly turned back when she felt no impact. He had moved away from her, his back turned and his hands clenched so tightly at his sides she could see dark rivulets of blood slipping through his fingers to drip to the rocks below.

"Leave." His voice was cold as ice as it cut through the air between them. "Go back to where you came from."

"I can't!" she told him heatedly. "And even if I could, I wouldn't."

He scoffed. "There is no point in you staying. I was obviously mistaken in thinking your presence could be in any way beneficial."

"How can you be so cold?"

"Don't you know, miko? I am a youkai. I have no heart."

"Who are you trying to convince of that?" she asked him in a dark whisper. "Me or you?" He didn't answer, and Kagome pursed her lips tightly with anger. "Maybe…" Her voice cracked as she turned away from him. "I was wrong about you, too."

Choosing her way carefully, Kagome made her way to the trees, picking her path across the stones at the river's edge. But as she jumped to skip a small steam of river water moving through the rocks, she lost her footing on the slick stones. She swayed off-balance, he arms swinging to try and keep her weight forward. But she couldn't hold herself. She slipped and fell hard against the rock.

"Give me a break!" she groaned in frustration as she shifted to try and bring herself back to her feet. But again she slipped, and again she found herself lying on the slick rocks of the river valley. Rolling onto her back, she flopped her arms over the stones. "I give up," she said up to the sky. A star twinkled at her in the heavens, and she scowled at it darkly. "Why don't you just strike me down with lightning right now and get it over with?"

An explosion ripped through the stone just to her right, sending a shower of water and rock flying through the air. Kagome cursed loudly and she pulled herself tightly together and rolled away from the fallout.

Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted. She tensed and turned stiffly, only to find that she was being held tightly to Toga's chest and was being carried swiftly across the rock towards the concealment of the trees.

His eyes flashed down to meet hers briefly before moving back to front. "Do not say a word," he bit out sternly.

Despite his warning, Kagome opened her mouth to say…well…something, but a short growl rattling through his chest promptly changed her mind. In only moments, he was setting her down away from the men approaching. He turned from her, and Kagome could hear the sharp keen of a blade being drawn an instant before she saw the living fire of the Tetsusaiga blade burst forth.

"The future." He didn't look back to her, but the hard edge of ice in his voice had been stripped away and she could hear again the strong determination in his words. "I fight to see a future. If Memnon rises, there will be none for any creature. To prevent such a fate, for myself, my son, and for those that were never given the chance to fight back; no number of lives lost in the struggle will be too much. You may not be able to kill them. But I can."

He shifted, but Kagome reached out and caught his arm before he could leave. His eyes snapped back to meet with hers, narrowed slits of amber fury, but she didn't heed the warning. "I know," she told him slowly. Pulling her hand back, she gestured to his sword. "Even in a future you were not a part of, Tetsusaiga carried on your will, only giving strength to a wielder who would use it to protect."

She stepped back from him and made to turn, but paused. "Sesshomaru had always coveted the power of Tetsusaiga," she told him quietly. "But it was Tenseiga that showed him the path to true strength. It is so easy to take life. Sometimes even necessary. I understand that. I understand that you do what you believe you must. But do not try to make less of me for acting upon my own beliefs; because whatever you think you know about me, what you should know is that I too have fought to see a better future for those that I love, and that I…have sacrificed, as well."

For a time after she had turned and walked away from him, he remained standing where he was, caught in turbulent emotions of anger, resentment, and remorse. The girl had no way of knowing what her call for help would have done to him, had no way of knowing that his anger had not been towards her but more towards himself for having given in so easily when he had heard the urgency in her voice as she called out his name. He knew he shouldn't have lashed out at her, knew that he was being unnecessarily cruel to this young mortal woman who had been brought to him by a twist of fate orchestrated by his own hand. But he couldn't let her bleeding heart to become his as well. He couldn't feel for her, couldn't allow himself to know her pains. Because he knew why he had sent her to this time…Or, at least, he thought he did.

But maybe…maybe there was another way.

'_It is so easy to take life…But it was Tenseiga that showed him the path to true strength.'_

"We shall see, Kagome, if your faith is well justified."

Leaving behind the shelter of the trees and the shadows of his thoughts, Toga hardened himself for the battle to come.

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Well…I officially hate that chapter. In fact, I hated it so much, I was on the verge of doing something I've never done before while writing fanfiction: rewriting the whole damn thing. But, after realizing that I am far too lazy to do such a thing, I posted it anyways. Meh, I guess that just means I have to make up for it in the next chapter.

Anyways, I guess that's all for now. I couldn't do more damage if I tried.

Later

Shadow


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_C…C…Cold!_

Kagome shivered violently, drawing her arms even tighter around her chest to conserve more body heat. Unfortunately, all it managed to do was press the cold metal of the blade she was clutching against her exposed skin and make her shiver again.

_Lesson learned,_ she thought irritably, _Never go anywhere with an Inu unless you are dressed in full battle armor!_

Her blouse had been lost to her after it, along with the smoke screen she had taken from the Demon Slayer, had tumbled into the river valley after she had jumped from the cliff, leaving her with only her bra covering her. Of course, it wasn't exactly that she was all that opposed to the covering. She was a modern girl, after all, and had worn outfits to the clubs on occasion that probably didn't cover near as much as her trusty, not to mention extremely comfortable, regular wear. Besides, this particular one had a cute little lacette that ran below the underwire and it made her feel dainty.

_Look on the bright side_, she told herself with a tight, humorless laugh.

She was lucky, she supposed, that she had managed to keep a hold on Midoriko's blade. Though, she wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do with it now. It wasn't really like she knew what to do with a sword. Her simple attack from earlier had been based on a crude mimic of Inuyasha's actions with Tetsusaiga combined with her sheer determination and her forceful direction of her powers. It had resulted in a blast very similar to that created by one of her arrows, only the blast radius had been wider and had cut more sharply as it traveled through the trees surrounding her.

Still, even though she didn't know what to do with the blade, she couldn't bring herself to let it go. It just didn't seem right. Somehow, she knew that the fact that the blade had led the Slayers to them was no coincidence. And if it was Midoriko's will that she carry it, she would not deny her such.

Another shiver coursed through her, and Kagome huddled down deeper into the crevice of tree roots she had taken to for shelter. She wouldn't dare build a fire when she knew that the Demon Slayers were so close. The light would only attract trouble, and she really, REALLY didn't need to make any more trouble for herself.

Sighing heavily, Kagome tucked her head down to rest against her drawn up knees. "This sucks," she said aloud to no one in particular.

"Kagome."

"KIYAAAA!!!"

So startled by the sudden intrusion on her privacy, Kagome jolted right out of her seat…managing to catch her feet on one of the tree roots and tumbling unceremoniously over it. She landed clumsily, squirming for a time to try and regain herself. When she finally did manage to pull herself away from the roots, she turned stiffly to the perpetrator, a hard scowl tightening on her lips. "Sesshomaru!" she bit out sternly. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

He tilted his head slightly, regarding her critically. "Why did you not sense my approach?"

"I…" Trailing off with a nervous giggle, she rubbed a hand absently through her hair. Her eyes lit up when she found the perfect way to change the topic from her own lapse in concentration. "Is that my bag?" she asked, pointing towards the brightly colored strap slung over the boy's shoulder.

"Hn," he responded vaguely as he shifted and pulled the pack from his shoulders and held it out to her.

"Oh, thank you!" Kagome said with an excited squee as she hugged the bag to her chest. Her happy giggles were cut off prematurely though when she heard a tiny mewling sound from behind Sesshomaru. She stretched and looked over the boy. "Kirara!" she exclaimed happily. "I was so worried when I went to get you and you weren't there!"

The little cat mewed again, her eyes blinking lazily as she looked up at the young priestess.

"The feline is still unresponsive," Sesshomaru told her curtly. "The smoke is still in her senses. She was fortunate to have escaped its effects long enough to pull herself away from the blasts earlier."

Sobered instantly as she was washed with images of her earlier discussion with Toga and its bitter-sweet revelations, Kagome merely nodded in agreement. But, forcing a smile to her lips, she asked Sesshomaru, "Is there a better place around where we could get some shelter? It's getting kinda cold out, and without a fire I'm a little…underdressed."

She could see so clearly the way he openly allowed his sharp eyes to travel the length of her body.

He lifted an eyebrow slowly when his eyes finally met with hers again. "Indeed," he intoned dryly.

Kagome swore her blush was hot enough to set her on fire. But, she figured, at least she wasn't cold anymore. Crossing her arms stiffly over her chest, she tapped her foot against the ground in annoyance. "So?" she asked sharply. "You plan on staring all night, or are you going to lead the way?"

He blinked at her hard tone, but quickly brushed it off and turned to lead her through the trees.

Kagome paused for a moment to settle her pack on her shoulders, arrange her weapons in secure position through the straps, and collect the groggy Kirara from the ground before following him.

"In your future…you knew me."

Sesshomaru's soft statement startled Kagome enough to make her step falter, but she caught herself quickly and took several long strides to bring herself up beside him. "The youkai that I knew no longer exists," she replied. "I changed the past, and in so doing, I changed the future. Whatever I thought I knew was no longer real. The people, the lives they lived, all of it was different. He was different."

Tilting his head slightly, the boy asked, "How so?"

Completely stumped on how to answer that question, Kagome tried diverting. "It doesn't matter. That future can no longer be, and is as though it never was. All we can do is look at the present and the future we would make now."

Her plan didn't work.

"I…He…was your enemy."

"No," Kagome answered slowly. "Not exactly. We fought at first, yes. But as time went on, the more battles we saw, more often than not we were fighting for the same side. He even saved my life…twice? Maybe more..." She released a long, tired breath, and shook her head. "But, like I said, it doesn't matter. That future will never happen. Only I will ever remember."

He was silent for a time, thinking over her words. When he spoke, what he said made her heart clench painfully.

"I would remember you, Kagome."

And in a trebling voice, she replied, "Thank you, Sesshomaru."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Go to sleep." Kagome sat on a large stone in the small alcove Sesshomaru had led them to that had been broken by the shifting of the cliff's rock face. She was glaring at the young Sesshomaru, her arms crossed stiffly over her sweater-clad chest.

"Not necessary," he returned, his tone even harder than hers and his golden eyes cutting sharply through the dark shadows of their shelter. "Your human body can not endure without sleep. This Sesshomaru will keep watch."

"This _Kagome_ is doing just fine," she bit out, her glare increasing ten-fold. "You, however, have been exposed to a poisonous smoke that has left your senses disrupted. Don't!" she stopped his words with a sharp gesture with her hand. "You can't deny it. No matter how resistant you are to it, it has still affected you. I can read it in your aura. You need sleep to recuperate. So, sleep. I will keep watch."

"And you were doing such a good job of it earlier."

Her eyes narrowed fiercely. "Don't test me, puppy."

Pointing firmly at the sleeping bag spread out on the cavern's floor, Kagome told him, in no uncertain terms, to get in it and go to sleep. And he had growled, snipped, and offered some rather interesting rebuttals; but Kagome held firm, and eventually won him over…Though, she may have, possibly, perhaps, allowed her aura to spread through the confines of the enclosement in steadily increasing ripples of soothing power, wrapping him in a soft blanket of sweet scent and warming comfort as she once had for her little Shippo. When the pup's eyes had finally grown heavy enough that he simply couldn't argue with her anymore, he relented and crawled into her sleeping bag, finding his way to his dreams in no time.

Once he was asleep, Kagome leaned back against the stone, her eyes looking out over the bank of trees that spread between them and the river where Toga had left her. For a long time she sat there, watching and waiting. Midnight came and went. And finally, when her eyes had become so heavy she wasn't certain she would be able to keep them open any more, she began to feel his approach.

The pattern of his aura was unmistakable, but she could tell, even from the distance still separating them, that something was horribly wrong. The crimson fires that bled into her mystic vision had been smothered from the fierce and powerful blaze that they should have been, left as sharp glances of flame where before there had been an inferno. His path was unsteady, his movements jerky instead of smooth with fluidic grace.

She wanted to go to him, but she knew she couldn't leave Sesshomaru behind. So she waited, tensed and ready, her hands clutching tightly to the boy lying across her lap.

When he finally emerged from the concealment of the trees, Kagome gasped in shock. He was covered in blood, and when he walked, he staggered as though every step was made on trembling new legs. She got up quickly and moved towards him, but stopped abruptly when he growled fiercely and dropped himself into a position to attack.

"Toga?" she called out to him. "Are you…alright?"

He stiffened at the sound of her voice, slowly drawing himself up and dropping his guarded stance. "Why does he not answer?"

"Why does he…? You mean Sesshomaru? He's sleeping."

Toga's hands clenched tightly at his sides. "What did you do to him?" he asked in a voice tarnished by the thick rumbles of his displeasure.

"I just helped him get to sleep. I've done it for Shippo hundreds of times after he was too wound up from a battle to sleep properly. He's fine, just resting." She tilted her head slightly to try and get a better view of him. His face was hidden, left as only sharp lines and planes in the shadows of the night, but she could still see that his stance was all off and his aura was screaming of exhaustion. "Like you _should_ be," she added with a hint of worry creeping into her tone. "Look," she said as she took a step towards him, "You seem to be having trouble, let me help you…"

"I am fine," he told her coolly. Straightening himself fully, he brushed past her and headed towards the entrance to the cavern.

"Uh huh," Kagome replied, totally not convinced. She watched him carefully, noting how his steps were unusually hesitant against the stones, and how his hand came to rest at the side of the cave's entrance, sliding along the cracked walls…But, she realized, it wasn't to keep his balance.

_His eyes… _Something had happened to his eyes when he had gone to confront the Slayers. Another form of poison maybe, or just the full impact of a second dose of the potent chemicals. She didn't say anything about it, knowing that he was struggling enough; but still she watched him carefully. She stood back to allow him room, but after seeing him crouch down beside Sesshomaru and leaning in close to take a deep breath of his scent, she couldn't stand back any longer.

"How bad is it?" she asked him as she moved slowly into the entrance of the cave. He didn't answer, only seated himself next to his son and leaned back against the rocks. Kagome scowled. "Can you even catch his scent? Or did you have to track us here the old fashioned way?"

"Woman…"

"Don't you 'Woman' me!" she cut in with a harsh whisper, trying to keep her voice as low as possible. "Look at you! You're a mess! I'm just trying to help!"

"Unnecessary," he growled irritably, though he too was keeping his voice low as to not disturb his pup. "I have suffered no lasting damage. You need not concern yourself with…"

"You're an idiot." His eyes flashed angrily in the darkness, but Kagome matched his glare. "I bet you're going to try and tell me that you plan on keeping watch, too, right? Well, you can forget it, buster! You're going to sleep just like that pup of yours."

He growled, but Kagome ignored him. She moved closer until she was standing right over him, then, with a huff, she stepped over his outstretched legs and lowered herself firmly onto his lap.

"What…?"

"Shh," she hushed him as she reached her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer. "Just breathe."

"Woman, remove yourself from my person immediately!"

Shaking her head firmly against his shoulder, Kagome replied, "No way. Now, shh. This works better than a lullaby, I swear."

"Woman…Stop…" His words failed him when her scent suddenly broke through the dark fog of poison clouding his senses. It seemed to fill every part of him, calm and tranquil, soothing like a gentle summer rain when the air is heavy with the soft scent of new blossoms. It became all he knew, the softness of the scent, the gentle heat that spread through him in a soothing caress.

He could feel his eyes drooping, growing impossibly heavy. And though the knowledge was distant, he managed to focus on it and pull himself away from her lull. His brought his hands up to her shoulders and pushed her back. "Stop," he told her firmly.

But again she shook her head, placing her hands above his and tugging gently. "Please, Toga. You need to sleep, and I know you won't. I can wake you up in a second flat if I have to. So, please, just let me help you."

His brow drew together slightly in puzzlement as he pulled his hands back from her shoulders. "Why?"

She smiled warmly and shrugged. "Because you need me to. And because I want to."

He held her eyes for a long time, seeming to her like he was looking for something, but after finding it or not, she would never know, he looked away from her.

"Wake him," he said with a slight nodding of his head in the direction of Sesshomaru.

"Ummm…Toga?" Kagome said hesitantly. "He's already awake."

The sudden change in pace of the pup's heartbeat told him the unquestionable truth of her statement, and he growled, at the boy for pretending to be sleeping, at the girl for knowing and still putting him in this humiliating position, and at himself because his mind was so clouded with thoughts of drifting in the calm sea of soothing scent and tranquil heat that he couldn't properly pay attention to his surroundings…even if he couldn't see or scent them properly.

"Sesshomaru," he growled at the boy, "Get out."

Faster than Kagome could register, the boy took his leave. She gaped at the spot he had vanished from for a moment, but, blinking away the shock of his hasty departure, she turned back to Toga. "That wasn't very nice!" she scolded him.

He grunted in response and lifted his arms to wrap around her back.

She squeaked in surprise when he pulled her against himself again. "What…?"

"Hush," he cut her off. Lifting her from his lap, Toga shifted so that he could lay the miko out on her bedroll.

"H…Hey!" She protested.

But Toga shushed her again. "Sleep, miko."

"But what about…" Her eyes widened impossibly wide and her face instantly flushed with a heavy blush when she felt him settle onto the blanket beside her. "…Oh…"

He chuckled quietly from beside her. "You are an unusual woman."

Twisting onto her side to look at him, Kagome's lips quirked into a sly grin. "This coming from a talking dog."

Clicking his fangs together, he began to growl, the sound shaking through his chest and spreading the short distance between them causing her to shiver. He released another low chuckle at her reaction and shifted his eyes to look at her. "I am waiting."

Kagome blinked. Once. Twice. And then pulled back slightly in nervousness. "For…what?" she asked timidly.

His lips twisted into a devious smirk. "For my lullaby," He said as he rested his head back on his arm and closed his eyes.

Kagome stared at him blankly for a moment…and then huffed in annoyance. _Damn dogs!_ But, after flopping herself back down onto the sleeping bag, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax, calling up a soft summoning of her powers to take them both to their rest.

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:) Much better. But, no time to chat. I've got a ball game to get to. So, laters.

Shadow


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The breaking of the sun over the land ignited the fire of day to burn away the heavy darkness that had been brought in the night. The air was wiped clean of the choking fog of poison and death, and with the new light came new strength to face the challenges of the coming day.

And there would be many. Toga knew this even before he opened his eyes to take in the brightness of the morn. His senses had been awake for some time, conveying to him his surroundings as he allowed his body to take the rest it needed. He had been surprised when he had first regained his awareness how long he had actually allowed himself to be without it. Only a short few hours, but after so long of fighting without any real rest; it had seemed an eternity.

She had given that to him. Why, he couldn't even begin to fathom. How she could accuse him so venomously of things that pained her so deeply and still be so insistent and genuine in her offers of aid was a mystery. A miko that gave herself as much for the children of man as she did for the spirits of the land. She was unique. But it was not her power that made her such, nor her acceptance of youkai as easily as her acceptance of her kin, not even the memories she had of a future that would no longer be.

It was the strength of her faith, the courage of her conviction, the way she smiled even when she was hurting, and how even in the simplest of touch she could make someone who had all but forgotten warmth in the cold rage of battle remember what it was like.

And for one that had never known the soft comfort of a woman's presence, she had become so much more.

Without even opening his eyes, knowing the boy was there, Toga addressed him. "Is there something you wanted, Sesshomaru?"

"To be certain you were awake, father," the boy replied. "I intend to take the feline for a short time."

Cracking his eyes open, Toga regarded his pup for a moment. The boy was acting strangely, his voice was hushed and his words unusually hesitant. It seemed as though he was asking permission for something that he knew he should definitely not be asking for. But still he was, and it made Toga curious. "To go where?"

Sesshomaru shifted his focus briefly to the young miko curled up against his father's side. She was still sleeping, and by the steady depth of her breathing, she would be for some time. But she would wake, and when she did…

He understood that she was a warrior. He understood that she was likely here to aid his father in the war waging in the Western lands. But there was just something about her…and seeing her there, so serene in her slumber, so content to be taking of his father's warmth as she curled against him…It just seemed so…right.

He had wanted to do something for her, show her that her presence was appreciated. But, unfortunately, with her being human and him being…well…not, he wasn't exactly sure what he _should_ do for her. He intended to scout a nearby human settlement and use the feline's more innocuous presence to infiltrate it once he found what he was looking for. That, however, required his father to be aware of his absence so that he could maintain the watch while the miko slept.

"Humans require nourishment often. I will gather appropriate stores before Kagome awakens." Not a lie…just not exactly the truth.

"You intend to go to a human village." Really, the pup thought he could pull one over on his old man?

"I will not be detected." He had been on his own for months now. He didn't need permission for something as simple as infiltrating the lax defenses of a human village.

"Hn." The boy was up to something, and Toga didn't like it. "I will go. You stay here."

"Father…"

"No arguing, pup!"

The sharpness of his order and the low rumble of displeasure accompanying it caused the young miko to stir. She turned away from Toga, removing herself from the low rumbles shaking through his chest, and mumbled incoherently in her sleep, "Sit…"

Toga was shocked at the sudden urge he felt to pull her little body back against him again when he experienced a chill after being denied her warmth, but he quickly shook it off and rose from the bedding. His pup was glowering at him, but he paid him no heed as he took a moment to survey his condition. The few minor injuries he had sustained the night before were healed, his senses were fully functional again, but his armor had taken a few hits and his clothing was covered in dried patches of sprayed blood. He lifted his lip in disgust. Human blood always did leave the worst stains.

Still, if he was going to replace his own garments, he might as well obtain some for the girl as well. He clothing was indecent by any standard, and completely unsuitable for battle. He was halfway through looking over the miko to get a better measure of her size when he realized he was strangely anxious. She was an unusual woman, and it was just as likely that she would see an outfitting of armor as an insult to her defenses as it would be for her to take it as a gift. Which it wasn't. It was a necessity. Nothing more. Really.

Toga sighed. He wasn't even believing himself anymore. He looked over to Sesshomaru, who was glaring at him with enough animosity that he was surprised the pup wasn't snarling. "What did you want to get for her in the village?"

But the boy only narrowed his eyes sharply and looked away.

His lips drawing tight in a firm line of displeasure, Toga turned to leave. Today was going to be a very long day.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**CRASH!!**_

Kagome bolted upright, her eyes darting frantically around the small enclosure searching out the source of the disturbance. Her heart was pounding in her chest, filling her body with strong surges of energy to rip her away from the capture of her slumber. But even through the rush of her awakening and her disorientation, she could see that she was alone.

Seeing and feeling, though, for the young miko, were two completely different things. Even when her eyes could see no other presence, she could feel one. And he was angry. Very angry.

Scrambling out of her sleeping bag, Kagome reached for her weapon. She paused for a moment when instead of simply her bow resting against the rocks on the side of the cave she saw the Miko's blade as well. Another loud crash from outside of her shelter, however, made the decision for her, and she quickly took hold of the hilt of the sword and dashed out to find the source of the commotion.

She stepped out into the early morning light and had to blink several times for her eyes to adjust, but she forced herself to move despite her momentary disorientation. As her vision cleared, she began to take notice of the trees surrounding the alcove of rock. In the night, they had been looming sentinels that cast everything in shadow and blocked out the soft light of the moon and stars. But now, they had been ripped and torn, cut through in some places, and in others left to fall so that their branches tore through the canopy and left huge gaps where the sun streamed through to the forest floor.

Making her way quickly through the devastated trees, Kagome soon found herself looking upon the source of all the destruction.

"Sesshomaru," she called his name softly, wary of the stiffness of his posture and the way he refused to turn to face her. "What's going on here? Are you alright?"

"I am fine."

"Uh huh." Why was it that they thought that would appease her? Did she look stupid? Or was it simply that they thought humans couldn't detect a lie as easily as their noses could pick one out? Because a simple look around at the poor trees that had suffered under the boy's wrath, and it was abundantly clear that he was far from fine. Why wasn't Toga putting a stop to the boy's destruction?

Her train of thought stopping abruptly, Kagome narrowed her eyes in anger. _Toga…_ "He's gone, isn't he?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer, but Kagome knew. She hadn't sensed him when she woke, but had been so distracted by Sesshomaru's little tiff that she hadn't given it any thought. Clenching her teeth tightly in anger, Kagome tightened her grip on the sword in her hand.

"That damn dog!" she ground out in fury. "When I find him I'll…I'll…" at a loss for words, and so filled with outrage that the blasted mutt had abandoned her when it had been his doing that had trapped her in this time in the first place, Kagome took a lesson from Sesshomaru and allowed her anger to be unleashed on an unfortunate tree nearby.

She struck out at it with the blade of her sword, putting all her unvented anger into one solid swing. The impact was startling, jarring her forcefully as the blade of her sword reverberated against the solid wood of the tree and slipped against the bark. Kagome lost her footing when instead of having her strike becoming embedded in the tree it ricocheted off. Staggering to keep herself upright, Kagome glared murderously at the blasted tree.

"Stupid tree!" she cursed at it. "I'll show you!" Lifting her sword again, only taking a tight grip on it with both hands this time around, Kagome squared herself for her little one-sided battle. She was about to take another chop at it, when she heard soft snickering from behind her. She wheeled about to glare at Sesshomaru, leveling the blade of her sword in his direction "And what do you find so funny?" she bit out in accusation.

Not bothering at all to contain his obvious amusement at her actions, Sesshomaru told her plainly, "Your form is ridiculous."

"Oh, what? And you think you can do better?"

He blinked, then slowly lifted an eyebrow. "Of course."

It was a statement not a boast, and Kagome scowled. She knew damn well how good Sesshomaru was with a sword, she just hadn't thought about it now because he wasn't carrying one. Still, that didn't mean she had to be happy about the fact that he was finding such sick pleasure in her inexperience with the damn things. She was a miko for crying out loud! People expected her to be able to mix herbs, heal wounds, and string a simple bow; not go prancing around with a stupid sword!

Huffing loudly to try and dispel some of her frustrations, Kagome looked down at Midoriko's sword. She knew it was ridiculous that she was still carrying it, especially when she was so obviously useless at wielding it. But she couldn't help herself. She was drawn to it. She could feel the easy acceptance the blade had of her powers, had felt the warm surge within her as her powers accepted it as well. There was a connection between her and it. But, she knew, if she was ever going to be able to do anything productive with it, she would have to know how to use it.

"Could you," she asked quietly as she brought her focus back to Sesshomaru. "Could you show me?"

Sesshomaru tilted his head slightly as he contemplated his answer. This, he knew, was going to take a lot of work. A lot. But then, perhaps he could give her something after all. Inclining his head slightly, he accepted her proposal.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ooff!"

Sent sprawling out on the ground once again, Kagome sputtered to dislodge the dirt from her mouth. Grinding her teeth as she used the back of her arm to wipe away the remaining dirt, Kagome hauled herself to her feet to face Sesshomaru again.

"That wasn't fair," she told him in a voice tight with anger. "You used your speed!"

"Speed is not a weapon," he replied in his defense. "It is an asset."

"An asset, eh?" Kagome asked hotly. Her hands tightened around her Bokken carved from the fallen branches by Sesshomaru. It was sized and weighted as well as it could be to Midoriko's blade without Sesshomaru having ever touched it. She had seen the wardings placed on his own father's fangs burn the Sesshomaru she knew, and at that time he was far more powerful. She wouldn't risk having him touch the blade of a miko now.

Still, the little runt was beating her! Badly! How embarrassing. She was getting served by a midget sized version of Sesshomaru. Damn. And if the smirk on the little brat's face wasn't infuriating enough, then the idea of that same smirk gracing the lips of his older self as he taunted her with her pathetic mortalness being flashed across her mind with annoying insistence was enough to make her want to scream like a mad woman and lunge at the little bugger…Of course…She had…And that was why she was face-first in the dirt only moments before.

Well, not this time. _Say your prayers, boy._ Because she was planning on saying a couple of her own.

She pushed off strongly with her left leg, giving herself room to plant her right just before she could strike. She held her weapon low across her left side, waiting for her chance. Too late and he would be given an opening. Too early and he would evade and counter. But if she got it right….

_Gottcha you little twerp._ He didn't move, didn't blink. His stance didn't change, nor did his hold on his weapon. But he had already made the movement, just not yet with his body. She planted her right foot and lifted her arms to draw her weapon up across her chest. The motion didn't stop when her target dipped beneath her arms, but swung back down to catch him in the shoulder and use the leverage over him to push him down before he could pull up his arms to complete his strike against her exposed side.

He staggered to hold his footing after her blow. When he straightened to face her, this time it was Kagome smirking. She could see the confusion in his eyes, and it was extremely gratifying. "Looks like I've got a few 'assets' of my own," she told him smugly. Blinking, she dispelled the vision of red from her eyes that had reflected the burn of his aura and set her stance anew. "Now, shall we try this without any cheats?"

With fluid grace, he reset his stance against her. But the gleam in his eyes told Kagome plenty how much this was gong to hurt. He didn't need his speed or his claws or his whips of light to do damage. He was a blade forged for battle. And he didn't like to loose.

But then, neither did she.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Groaning miserably from yet another takedown, Kagome rolled on the ground, only to give up half-way to her knees and rock back onto her back. "No more," she whimpered pathetically. "I think I'm dying."

"You are not severely damaged."

She shot him a look that said 'I would so bitch at you if I had enough energy to even speak' and then groaned again as she cradled her aching arms. She was absolutely covered in bruises, and if her breathing was any more labored, she swore she was going to throw up. But even thinking about throwing up reminded her of how completely starved she was. And then, of course, how badly she needed a drink of water, but which she would have to…likely crawl because she didn't think she could walk anymore…back to the shelter and get it from her bag.

And then, because of course he couldn't have any better timing, she began to feel Toga's approach. "Someone just killed me now," she moaned miserably. Still, though with tremendous effort, she managed to pull herself to her feet. She swayed in drunken balance from her exhaustion, but forced herself to take some long draughts of air to steady her wobbly limbs.

She gulped when he finally came into her vision. His features were set in a strong look of disapproval. And it mirrored in his eyes when he locked them on to her and demanded to know what had happened in his absence.

Laughing nervously, Kagome took a quick look around at the demolished trees creating a new clearing in the scenery, her own torn and muddied self, and Sesshomaru's not near as bad as hers but still quite disheveled appearance. Plastering her best innocent smile on her face, she looked back to Toga. "I woke up this morning and just hated everything."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion, but Kagome held. Finally, he abandoned his glare and turned to Sesshomaru. "Take her to the water and return when she is outfitted properly." He threw one of the packages he held to the boy.

It clanked when it landed in Sesshomaru's arms, and Kagome stared at the package for a moment in confusion. "Outfitted properly?" she finally managed to ask. She looked back to Toga, but her confusion had been replaced with indignation. "What's wrong with my clothes?"

"They quite obviously are not designed for battle," he replied evenly with a short gesture to her apparel.

Sparing a glance down at her pajama pants that had newly become cutoffs and her beat up old tank top that she was left in after removing her sweater, Kagome was forced to agree with him. However, that did not mean that she had forgotten the other little problem with the old dog's plans.

"I don't need help getting dressed," she told him firmly.

He blinked lazily. "I was under the impression that humans bathed in family groups, as well."

"Huh? No! Well, maybe, yeah. But…but we're not family!" she said as she pointed at Sesshomaru. "We're not even the same species!"

"Then you obviously have nothing to be modest over."

Blushing furiously, Kagome struggled to find her words. "But he's…a he!"

Toga sighed. "Would you prefer that I accompany you?"

"NO!" Waving her hands sharply in a warding gesture, Kagome spun around quickly and grabbed Sesshomaru's sleeve. "Come on," she urged him. She was desperate to get away from this conversation.

_He's just a kid_, she kept telling herself. _It's just like Shippo bathing with me and Sango. He's not Sesshomaru. Not. Not. Not. Not._

"Remove your hand, miko."

_Damnit!_

"Sorry," she mumbled weakly as she took her hand back from where she had been clutching his sleeve. "This is just weird."

"Why?"

"Because," she answered slowly. "Because you're you. Well, of course you're you. But not you you. Not the you that I know you are. I mean, not the you that I knew you were but that you aren't now. What I mean to say is…aw crap. It's just weird, okay?"

She stopped walking suddenly. "Oh no…"

"Kagome?"

"I forgot my bath stuff!" she wailed miserably. Pouting, she sniffled as she looked back through the trees. Her bag was sooooo far away! "Hey!" Her eyes lit up when the idea hit her and her lips slowly twisted with devious glee. She looked back to Sesshomaru, biting back on a wicked chuckle. "Oh, puppy," she called with sugary sweetness. "Would you be a dear and fetch me my bag?"

He glared at her frigidly. "No."

"Oh, but, please?" she asked with a radiant smile and a soft fluttering of her eyelashes.

Sesshomaru stiffened. He didn't like this tactic. At all. "…No," he said again, though somewhat hesitant.

Kagome caught his lapse, and her smile only grew. "I am far too tired to walk all the way back to get it. It would mean so much to me if you would do this. Please?"

Drawing in a breath with full intentions of telling her no again, Sesshomaru found himself confronted with the wide, glossy, pleading eyes of the miko, and by damn he just couldn't do it. He let out his breath in a huff of aggravation. "Fine."

Once he had taken his leave, Kagome indulged herself in a low, wicked laugh of victory.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"You got suckered, boy," Toga informed his son with a smirk when he had returned to the shelter.

Sesshomaru sent his father a frigid glare. But, tilting his chin up when he lifted the miko's bag, he said, "It seems to me that you were no better at denying her, father. At least I was not the one that was purring."

"Purring?"

Sesshomaru smirked wickedly. "Had I not known better, I would have sworn it was the feline."

"You tread dangerously, pup," Toga growled in warning.

"Not nearly as dangerously as you, father."

Pulling back slowly from the boy, Toga let his words sink in. "Hn, we shall see."

Turning to leave, Sesshomaru was stopped abruptly at the sound of something being thrown at him. He reached up reflexively and caught it, finding a small package tied in a swath of blue silk.

"If you wish," Toga told him, "You may give that to her."

The barest of smiles formed on Sesshomaru's lips as his fingers closed slowly around the little object. "Thank you," he said quietly before he took his leave.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What is this supposed to be?" Kagome held up twin cups of twisted metal linked by overlapping runs of chain that supported two more strangely shaped cups on either end. She eyed it suspiciously and hesitantly like a questionable piece of meat she was debating on throwing out. Her brows furrowed and her lips twisted as she held the item up to her chest and pivoted it several times to try and find the 'upright' position. "He honestly expects me to wear something like this?" she asked incredulously of Sesshomaru. "Who does he think I am, Xena?"

"Who?"

"Never mind."

Kagome sighed and let her eyes scan over the array of clothing and armor. Most of it she got the gist of, but some of it was lost even on her. Like…for instance…the one little piece that had mysteriously been hefted into the river after she had so fondly labeled it a 'chastity belt' and refused to let it near her let alone on her body.

She tapped her fingers against the flat of the rock she was sitting on. So far, she had gotten herself into a new set of bra and panties and donned the wonderfully silky fold of navy cloth that apparently was supposed to serve as an undershirt beneath the terribly heavy looking outer haori which then, apparently, was supposed to be covered by what she could only equate to a corset, but instead of having support lines running its length, it held bars of metal within toughened leather stained midnight black which ran the full length of her sides.

Though, she had to admit, it was shaped nearly perfectly to her curves. And she was, secretly, intrigued with the supposed 'breast plate' she had been given. The gauntlets had caught her eyes as well. She had been saying for a long time that she would like a pair of archery gloves, and these were way better than a simple loop of leather over her wrist.

What she did not like, was the idea of putting herself in those ridiculous pants. _How in the world do they move with that much fabric all wedged in there?_ She didn't know, and she wasn't about to find out. She liked her freedom. And, really, she didn't give a flying rat's ass if people in this era didn't like her clothing. It was comfortable and easy to move in. Her legs did prove to be weak spots, though, especially when they were aching from hard impacts against the ground and large scrapes and scratches. But…that's what shin guards were for.

"Well, something's gotta give," she said as she looked back to Sesshomaru.

"There is nothing wrong with the armor."

"Sure, if you don't count ugly as a drawback." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed again. "Alright," she said slowly. "I've got an idea."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So? How's it look?"

Kagome gave a little spin to show off her new ensemble. She had abandoned the idea of the thick jacket, keeping only the soft navy silk of the undergarment despite Sesshomaru's protests that it left her arms too open. The bodylace had been tied tightly around it, and, since it was simply hilarious to see the boy's expression as he tried to argue with her about it, she had left the part of the undergarment purposefully low to reveal the split of her cleavage which had been gloriously enhanced by the tight body lacing.

Only with Sesshomaru's assistance had she managed to get the breastplate on properly, but once it was fitted, she could honestly say that it was strangely comfortable despite its weight. The bands of chain running from the shoulderplates held the weight dispersed as they fanned out from the solid rims of the mainplate. But, to keep it light on her smaller frame, the metal had been twisted in random curves across the front, not fully covering her, but enough to cause a blade to glance away from her chest.

For her leg coverings, she had to do some serious talking; but, in the end, she had convinced Sesshomaru to shear the pants set she had been given so that she could convert one of the billowy legs into a skirt made from the thick cloth. Of course, he protested again when instead of using the longer cut, she had taken to the shorter one, but she had only laughed and told him it wasn't nearly as short as her school uniform.

Her legs were guarded well enough, she argued. With the boots Toga had gotten her that laced midway to her calf as Sango's had and the overlapping shinguards that went to her knees, Kagome figured she was just fine. Besides, she had never been so ridiculously decked out in armor before and she was still here. If she was to be honest, she thought this whole thing was getting a little out of hand. But she wasn't about to argue with the General now. He had obviously made his decision for her to come with him, and since she had been so angry earlier thinking he had left her to her own devices, she was simply glad that he was allowing her this.

"So?" she asked again as she stopped in her little display.

"Your hair should be tied away from your face."

"Why? Yours isn't."

"Mine would grow back in a day. Would yours?"

"Good point."

Kneeling down, Kagome pulled her bag over to her and began rummaging for a hair tie.

"Kagome."

"Huh?" Pausing in her search, she looked up to Sesshomaru.

He held out his hand and opened his fingers slowly to reveal the contents. "Would these be acceptable?"

Kagome gasped when she saw the beautiful pair of combs he held. The teeth were carved of jade, and inlayed in the handles were tiny clusters of onyx shaped like sakura blossoms and offsetting the soft paleness of the stone.

"For me?" she asked in quiet awe.

Sensing her hesitation, Sesshomaru moved closer to her. "It would…please me for you to wear them," he told her as he placed the combs in her hand.

"Oh…" She was speechless, breathless, and so happy she just wanted to hug him…so she did. Realizing what she was doing only after she had went and done it, Kagome quickly released Sesshomaru. "So sorry," she said, though she wasn't at all if her radiant smile was any indication.

"It is…fine." He replied somewhat stiffly.

Kagome giggled. "Awww, are you blushing?" He turned away from her abruptly, and she laughed again. "It's okay you know," she said between giggles. "I won't tell." She reached out and poked him in the ribs. It earned her a growl as he swatted her hand away, but she could tell it wasn't an angry one. So she just smiled…that was, at least, until he turned back to her with an absolutely wicked expression.

"Let us see who is blushing when you show father what you have done to your battle gear."

And that, very effectively, silenced Kagome's laughter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"It's not _that _bad," Kagome mumbled in annoyance. She stuck her tongue out at Toga's back and then proceeded to stuff a rice-ball into her mouth. Beside her, Sesshomaru was smirking; and she knew, without a doubt, that he was happily singing in his head 'I told you so!'

She huffed as she chewed her food, the whole while sending glares that could kill to the two Inu's she was sharing company with. This, she decided, was going to be a very long day.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That chapter was just so cute :) I want a little Sesshomaru for myself. Well, I want a big Sesshomaru, too. But beggars can't be choosers, right?

Anyways, I'm off for now.

Laters

Shadow


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Soooooo…….Sessy…...Where are we going?"

Kagome waited for a moment. But, getting no response from the youkai sitting in front of her on the Firecat on their destination to…somewhere…West…which considering half of Japan was technically 'West'…that wasn't very informative.

"Sesshomaru? Are you going to answer?"

He looked back to her slowly. "I was not aware you were speaking to this Sesshomaru, Kagome."

Kagome blinked and tilted her head slightly to regard the boy. "You…don't like it when I call you Sessy, Sessy?"

His only response was to turn away from her again.

Kagome snickered. "What about Fluffy?"

A soft growl tingled across her senses. Not audible to her range of hearing, she could still feel the angry vibrations of it.

She giggled and reached out to tap his shoulder.

He, however, caught her wrist in his claws without ever having turned to see it. "Touch me, and you will see how well you can fly without the aid of your feline."

"Well, that wasn't very nice," Kagome pouted as she drew her hand back and rubbed her wrist. She sighed dramatically. "Fine, fine, no more pet names. But I still want to know where we're going."

"You will find out when we get there."

Her lips twisted and she huffed shortly. "You don't even know, do you?" Without waiting for an answer, knowing it would likely be unproductive anyways, Kagome shifted her position on the great cat. She pulled back from Sesshomaru and swung her leg across the feline so that both were dangling over one side.

"What do you think you are doing?"

Looking back to Sesshomaru, Kagome winked. "I'm going to ask for directions. You sit tight, I'll be right back."

She pushed off Kirara…and fell less than a foot.

"Let me go!" she yelled up at Sesshomaru. Scowling, she gave a couple futile tugs against her wrist, but the boy was holding her firm.

"Your action is unwise," he told her firmly as he pulled her back onto the cat. "If father wished for you to know our destination, he would have told you."

"No he wouldn't have," Kagome snapped back. "He was still all grouchy over the whole armor thing when we left. And I…" she slumped miserably. "I didn't even get to thank him for it."

"_Sesshomaru…"_ The voice was carried through the winds of the soaring skies and Sesshomaru tilted his head to listen.

"Yes, father."

Kagome looked up to Sesshomaru confused. "What?"

"Father says that our travel will be faster if the feline is not carrying as much weight."

"You mean…you're leaving too?"

He shook his head slowly. "I can not currently reach these speeds." Motioning with his hand at the stretch of land sprawling out below them, he asked "What are you waiting for?"

With a smile slowly spreading on her lips as she was granted understanding, Kagome said a short farewell to Sesshomaru and pushed off again from the back of the Firecat. She breathed in deeply as the air cut by her in rushing whips, feeling her body slowly overcome with the trap of weightlessness. The ground came closer, and she began to make out the distinct differences between the greens of the foliage and the long grasses of the rolling hills. For an instant, seeing nothing but the vast stretch of land with nothing familiar and no way to stop her descent, she was gripped with anxiety; but it was dispelled and replaced with the heated wake of his crimson aura as he drew closer and pulled her away from her free-fall.

There was no impact, no jarring abruptness, only the smooth transition in the air as he drew her into his arms and brought her to rest by his side. She shivered violently when her legs were surrounded by a coursing flow of energy that danced across her skin as it shifted within the air currents they were traveling on, and on instinct, she pulled herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding on for dear life.

A deep rumble of amusement began shaking through Toga's frame. "Was this not your wish, little miko?"

"Somehow, it seemed like a much better idea when I wasn't standing on a cloud built by youkai energy," she mumbled against him.

"Does it pain you?"

Even in the smooth, unwavering tenor of his voice, she could hear his concern. She smiled timidly and began pulling back from him. "It's okay," she said slowly. Testing her weight against the non-surface, Kagome forced herself not to feel the strong vibration of his power settled around her. It…didn't work. It was just so immense, and feeling the caress of focused energy brushing against her skin was igniting her senses in a blaze of consuming heat.

"Tell me something…about where we're going," she asked, desperate for anything to take her mind off the burn and the feeling of her own energies crashing against her barriers of restraint as they strained to be let free to combat against him.

She was struggling. Her breathing was labored, her heartbeat had quickened, and he could see just beyond the glossy surface of her eyes the way her energy was spiking within her, brilliant waves of white light igniting in sharp lances just barely being contained.

But it wasn't right. She shouldn't have been affected in such a way, shouldn't have to fight against him. Not after…

"Hold on." He shifted, pulling her closer, and holding her body tight to his before he dispelled the wakes of energy keeping them aloft.

She gasped softly the instant they began to fall, her arms wrapping around him tightly to hold herself. "Toga…?"

But his focus was trained on the rapid approach of the ground. He lifted her in his arms, keeping her legs away from the impact, and braced. When he touched down, he didn't bother to contain the force of his landing. The ground shuddered beneath him, the soft outer crust collapsing under his weight and sending sprawling cracks through the bedrock.

Clenching his teeth against the pain, he straightened his legs until he felt the sharp shift of his bone structure snapping back into place. He ignored her startled exclamation of horror when the sound of his bones setting reached her and tightened his hold on her again to lift them both away from the devastation. When he finally set her down in a nearby sheltering grove of trees, he stopped her from voicing her concerns by speaking first.

"You will tell me, now, the exact events which brought you to this time."

"What?" Kagome was totally lost. "Why? I already told you…"

"No," he interrupted firmly. "You told me that it was I that sent you here, and that it was against your wishes. You implied that it was by the power given to you by my fangs that allowed you to make the crossing. However, if such a transfer occurred, then you should not be adversely affected by my power signatures, nor should you feel the need to fight against them as they would remain a dominant influence."

"Dominant? Now hold on just one minute Mr. Alpha Dog! I ain't no bitch! So you can take your ideas about dominance and…"

"It would be wise," he cut her off again, but in a tone so dangerously low that the warning was abundantly clear, "if you did not finish that statement."

And though sorely tempted to continue and give the damn dog a clear and uninhibited piece of her mind, Kagome relented for the moment. He had, after all, broken both of his legs to keep her from taking the impact of the ground. Why, however, was something she didn't understand. So, after being sure to scowl out her displeasure of the whole situation at him, she stepped back from the confrontation, crossed her arms stiffly over her chest, and began talking.

"It wasn't you. Not exactly. It was the Shikon that had allowed me to travel to the past. But before, I would only jump about 500 years. When you pushed me down the well, you powered it with tiny granules collected from the sands made of the Shikon after my wish. I think that whatever you did to me, you did to change the course I would take, not to activate the portal."

She shivered as she relieved the memories, feeling again the anguish that ripped through her as the crimson fires tried to consume her from the inside. Not able to look at him any longer, she turned, focusing on the soft sway of the branches in the breeze. "I fought you." The words were soft, but her voice was hard against the pain. "I was still fighting you even as the magic of the portal took over. But then, you weren't there any longer. I was alone. The burn of the fires died away and the magic sustaining the portal faded. When I woke up I was here. The way back had vanished, taking with it my future, my home, and my family."

Shaking her head sharply to prevent herself from succumbing to the torrent of emotions threatening to overtake her, Kagome forced herself to turn back to face him. "The only way for me to return without the power of the Shikon is to change the past enough that I could never have been brought back to it. That was what happened when I made my wish on the Jewel. The past was rewritten without me in it. And now, if, _when_, we find the way to defeat Memnon, the past will be rewritten again, and I will no longer have a part in it."

"You would let yourself be forgotten so easily, your story broken like the heart that wrote it."

"It's not like I really get much of a choice," she bit out hotly.

"Perhaps." He stepped closer to her and lifted his hand. She flinched away, and though knowing it was nothing he had done that had brought her to this, he still could not help but feel regret for the pain that had been inflicted upon her. He paused for a moment to let her collect herself, then reached forward and pulled one of the decorative combs from her hair.

Soft raven locks tumbled down over her shoulders as they slipped free from their holdings, coming to rest against the smooth paleness of her skin as her chest lifted with deep draughts of air. It was for moments like this that he had known her modifications to her armor would prove to be the most disastrous, because he couldn't help himself from seeing the soft curve of her breasts as they pressed against the confines of her outfitting or from wanting to run his hands over those curves and feel the gentle heat of her skin against his own. But no. He forced himself to look away.

Taking hold of her hand, he placed the small comb within it and closed her fingers around it. "But perhaps, Kagome, you have looked too long for an ending to your Feudal Fairytale, that you can no longer see a new beginning."

As she slowly opened her fingers to look down at the comb she held, a single tear fell from her eyes to land on the crystal onyx, shimmering like dew on the soft petals carved of the stone. Her fingers shaking, she brushed away the moisture before clutching the small item to her chest and releasing a shuddering breath.

"But where does the past end and the future begin?"

Reaching out to tilt her chin up to look him in the eyes, Toga smiled when she did not shy from his touch. "Where it always does," he told her gently. "In the present."

"The present," she whispered distantly, a part of her lost, adrift in the golden oceans of his eyes as they held her in their warm tides. When she blinked, and the spell was broken. Pulling back from him, Kagome reached up to catch his hand. Her eyes moved over the sharp points of his claws, knowing that they were only one of them many things that set them apart. "Tell me how?" she asked quietly as she brought her eyes up to his again. "How do I not fight you?"

He hesitated for a moment, but it was a moment too long. And when Kagome saw his eyes shift to the healing line of puncture wounds in her neck, she stiffened and pulled back from him. "Please, no. Not again."

Drawing his brow together slightly, he looked back up to her. "It is quite difficult to manipulate energy signatures in such a way. It requires…intimate contact."

"Intimate?" Kagome blushed even harder when her voice squeaked trying to choke out that word. She cleared her throat to try and brush past the dryness that had suddenly taken over there. "So you could do it…another way?" she asked, half apprehensive and half excited.

"I suppose," he answered slowly, his eyes glinting in the sunlight as they drew even more focus on her, "that there could be another way."

"Such as…?" she prompted, her lips parting as she drew in deep breath of anticipation.

"Such as…" he drawled out slowly, reaching up to brush a lock of hair from the side of her face…

Toga pulled back from her abruptly. "Damnit, Myoga!"

Kagome blinked. "Myoga?"

Then, before her eyes, floating like a feather caught on the wind as his flattened little body drifted its way towards the ground, she saw the flea. Her eyes widened in shock, she took in a sharp breath of excitement and joy at seeing an old friend; and then her eyes narrowed sharply in anger and her teeth clenched together in fury.

_That little bugger!_ She dropped to her knees instantly and pulled her pack from her shoulder. From one of the front pockets, she pulled out a spray can and aimed the nozzle at the still flattened bug.

With an audible pop, the little old flea plumped his body back to form. His little feet landed on the ground, and stretching out his four arms, he bowed before Toga. "Ah, Lord Toga. It is always an honor to…"

His speech was cut off with a hiss, a gurgle and a choke, followed by the soft thud of his little body falling over onto the ground.

Toga removed his hard glare from the groveling little vermin and looked curiously at the canister in Kagome's hand. "What is that?"

"Bug spray," she replied with a wicked grin.

"Will it kill him?"

"No, no," she replied with a light laugh, "But it is extremely gratifying."

Placing her spray back in her pack, Kagome shouldered the bag again and stood. She fidgeted nervously for a moment before asking, "So…"

The soft pink blush staining her cheeks and the rapid fluttering of her dark lashes as she struggled to keep her eyes averted from him was so endearing that Toga couldn't stop the low rumbles of amusement that escaped him.

Kagome, however, found nothing funny with the situation. Her shyness was quickly melted under the heat of her embarrassment, and she scowled. "Oh, just forget it!" she huffed angrily as she spun away from him. "I'm walking!"

"Kagome."

Toga reached out and caught her wrist, spinning her abruptly to turn back to him. She released a short cry of start when she lost her footing, but he would not let her fall. He pulled his arm around her waist and drew her close enough that he could lean down and capture her soft lips with his own.

Kagome stiffened instantly at the contact, her eyes drawing wide in startled shock. All she could do was stare at him when he pulled back just enough for the heat of his lips to leave hers. And then he was leaning into her again, but slowly, taking his time and letting her respond. His lips pressed against hers again, but this time, she kissed him back, letting her lips glide over his feeling the heat of his breath and the tasting the hot spices of his mouth.

She gasped when her lips began tingling with more than simply the heat of their contact, and he responded by puller her closer still and deepening the kiss. She could feel him holding her, feel the press of his body against hers and the movement of his lips as they bade her to join with him; and with every breath she could feel more of him, but deeper, stronger, filling her with the heat of the fires.

Within her, her powers were called up, but this time there was no clash of fire and ice, no devastating collision that left her screaming in anguish. She had embraced him as he had her, and with every breath the waters soothed as the fire warmed, and her blood became a melody of dancing powers and coursing energies.

But the rush slowly faded, and where the heat had burned the hottest, there was left only the gentle heat of his lips against hers. She sighed softly when he finally pulled away and brought her eyes back to focus on his.

"That," she said quietly, a warm smile spreading on her lips, "was a much better way."

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I almost, almost, wasn't going to let them have any fun. Well, actually, I almost let them get away with it without any hassles, but that would have been no fun for me ;P

Anyways, I think it's time for bed. So, goodnight folks. Sweet dreams :)

Shadow


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Come, Kagome. We must leave." Toga paused for a moment to reach down and collect the unconscious flea. Depositing him in the soft fur of the pelt draped over his shoulders, he looked back to Kagome. "If Myoga has come searching for me, then things are worse that I had assumed."

"Right."

She stepped closer to him, the whole time fighting furiously against the blush rising on her cheeks. Of course, she failed miserably, her efforts made all but futile when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. And then there was the way he smiled at her that made her knees suddenly feel weak and her chest flutter in delight. _He has dimples._ She was smiling back, and she hadn't even realized it.

"Are you ready?"

Taking a quick look over herself to be sure she had everything, Kagome was about to tell him she was good to go; but she stopped curiously when she didn't register any pain after having turned her head to check her shoulder for her pack, her bow, and her quiver. Blinking in confusion, she turned her head again. But again feeling no painful stretch against her damaged skin, she reached up to brush her fingers over the wound.

All she felt was the smooth curve of her neck and the soft brush of her fingers against her skin. In disbelief, she tried again. When again she felt no wound, she gasped in realization. Her hands flew down to her side, pressing firmly against the tough leather of her body armor; but other than the hard compress of the metal support bars against her as they dispersed the force; she felt no discomfort, and no pain.

She looked back up to Toga in wonderment. _He healed me._ She couldn't understand how. She was a miko, and he youkai. She had thought that to be touched by his fangs would mean pain or even death. She had thought that was the reason he could not bring his granddaughter back to him. It didn't make any sense. But then, when had her journey ever made any sense? And when had it ever felt so right?

"Yes." she said. _For anything._

Around him, Toga began to slowly expel a concentrated stream of energy. He watched closely for the little miko's reactions, wanting to be certain he would not force undue strain on her again. But she remained calm, her body staying soft and compliant in his hold even as her eyes swept over the shifting currents of energy wrapping around them.

"How do you feel?"

There was no way to describe it, no way for her to explain how she had felt his touch within her the moment he had called forth his powers. It was soothing, more calming than the soft ripple of her own powers as it spread gentle heat through her body. She could feel the energy around her, could see the movements of the shifting currents around them; but all she knew was the warmth that had settled within her. And even when the fires spread around her they never moved to fill her, never broke past the power settled within her.

"Warm," she whispered in response.

The energy surrounding them suddenly lifted, taking them away from the ground to be carried upon the shifting air currents of the sky. Kagome watched as the land below her faded into the distance, the greens of the trees and grasses blending together into a giant canvas of sprawling hills and rolling planes against the clear blue of the sky and the soft dusting of clouds that rolled along the horizon. She breathed in deeply of the fresh, clean air, feeling once again the gentle heat coursing through her, and she smiled as she relaxed her weight against Toga's side.

"A girl could get used to this," she said quietly. "It's like we're the only two people in the world."

"Sadly, that is not the case," Toga replied with a low growl of warning. "Myoga, if you bite me again, I will more than gladly give you a lesson in the art of pain."

Giggling, Kagome looked up to find the little flea frozen in fear less than an inch from the Inu's neck, his bug eyes…well…buggy, and wide with trepidation. "Myoga, will you ever learn?"

Broken from his fear-induced trance, the little flea blinked and shifted his bulbous eyes to take in the sight of the female warrior traveling with his Lord. Human blood, he had detected it earlier; but with something more, as well. Something powerful. But pure and gentle as the summer rains.

"I do not believe we have met, young lady." With a short spring of motion, he had lifted himself away from Toga and come to rest on the smooth plate of metal covering Kagome's shoulder. His lips smacked in appreciation when he was given a better scenting of her blood. "I think I would remember such a woman."

"You truly are impossible," Kagome scolded the little flea lightly. "But Myoga?" She smiled sweetly, waiting for him to bring his attention away from the pulse of the vessels running just beneath the skin of her neck. When she finally gained his attention, she held that warm smile for a fraction of a second before having it drop away and be replaced with a hard glare. "Unless you want to be knocked out again in a buggy haze again, you won't bit me unless the circumstance is dire."

The little flea gulped audibly.

"Myoga," Toga addressed the flea. Though watching him be shown his place by Kagome was quite entertaining, the vermin had come to him for a reason. "Why is it you have sought me out? Does the line not hold?"

"It holds, My Lord, but another fortress has been taken further inland. A new army arises."

"They seek to trap us."

"I am afraid it is not that easy, Lord Toga. The army marches north not east."

"North?"

Dipping his head into a bow, the flea sighed sadly. "They keep the peeks of Mt. Hiba in their sights."

"How long?" When the flea didn't answer, Toga growled. "How long!"

"T…two days, my Lord, before they reach the mountains."

"Excuse me?" Kagome's timid voice cut into the flea's debriefing. But, since she hadn't even gotten the initial briefing on where they were going or what they were doing, she was rightfully confused. "What's happened?"

Toga brought his attention to her. "The mountain guards a northern province."

"Yeah, thanks for the geography lesson, but in case you've forgotten, I live here too. Not to mention, I'm a miko. I would be a pretty sad case if I didn't know the mountain where legends say Izanami was buried."

Toga smirked slowly at her words. "Ah, yes, _that_. Well, legends do have such mysterious origins."

"What do you mean by that?" Kagome asked suspiciously.

But his smirk only grew and he quickly shifted his attention to the little flea still perched on the miko's shoulder. "Tell Kagome what she needs to know about our position. I will take us closer for a better assessment."

"Of course, Lord Toga." Myoga seated himself comfortably on Kagome's shoulder, tucking his legs beneath him and crossing his four little arms over his chest. "Aside from the legend of the mountain, Izumo province is well guarded. A great shrine has been built, and a city around it. No matter the holy wars being fought by the empire in the north and east, they would not dare invoke the wrath of the Gods. But the land is bounteous, the lake filled with many fish, and the land rich with metal ores. It is there, concealed in the rock passageways of the mountain, that the fires to our forge have been lit. It is also where we have been concealing Abi-hime."

"Princess Abi?" Kagome asked with a soft gasp. "The daughter of the hell-fire bird? The one whose blood opens the portal to the crossing land between the living and the dead?"

"Such knowledge is not widely known," the flea said tentatively. "Who did you say you were again?"

"Believe me," Kagome replied, "It's a long story." She shook her head. "And now isn't the time. Tell me more about Princess Abi. Why is it so important that she be guarded?"

"Because it was her father's death that allowed for So'unga to be released."

Her brow drawing tight in confusion, Kagome pressed for more information. "How?"

"His blood was spilt in a battle to defend their mountain home in the Iyo region of the Shikoku Island states. Not much is known about the battle, only that when he emerged, he carried the So'unga. According to Abi, he was no longer the same. His eyes had become black voids of darkness, never showing anything but for his lust for blood. He locked his mate, Tekkei, away, forcing her to breed him more servants; and the birds born of the flock were changed as well, becoming deformed, stripped of their feathers, and their bloodlust born of their master's own. He would consume their sacrifices, infusing his strength; only to demand more and have his birds sent out again. One night, Abi bore witness to the display from a place of concealment. She heard the voice of So'unga, and learned of its plan. Much later, after the mortal population of the island states had been overtaken and the youkai of the territories either wiped out or converted into Kunabi's service, Abi managed to escape."

"But why come to you?" Kagome asked as she looked to Toga.

He lifted his hand to rest it against the hilt of Tenseiga, and replied, "Because I once defeated him."

Kagome made a mental note to ask him about that later. Actually, she had a few questions for him later, but unfortunately, they would have to come much later. She focused on the information she was being given for the time being. "Where is your defensive line?"

"Kunabi's attempt to move from the island states was thwarted due to Abi's forewarning of the event." It was Myoga that answered, and he continued to tell Kagome of their position. "The undead ones are difficult to kill, but not impossible. Many youkai fight to stop the advance on the human settlements." He paused and lifted one of his hands. "Not in their defense, mind you," he noted carefully, "but to keep the size of Kunabi's army from growing."

"Whatever," Kagome brushed off the flea's comment. "What does the line guard?"

"What else?"

Kagome looked back to Toga when he spoke. She knew; she had just wished it wasn't the case. "Kyoto," she said softly, "The capital."

Toga nodded solemnly. "With so many mortals populating their capital, his army would grow exponentially. He would become unstoppable."

"So why the detour?"

"That is what I intend to find out."

Toga came to a stop when the dark outline of the advancing army could be seen in the far distance. From so far, he could not make out their numbers or their ranks, only tell that it was composed of two very distinctive presences. The first, of So'unga's walking dead, and the other…

"Oyakata…"

Looking down at the young miko, Toga took in her shocked expression. "The Panthers are known to you?"

"Y...yes," she stuttered. "But…but I didn't think it was _this_ war. Myoga told us that the Panther demon tribe attempted to take control over all youkai and that you fought them in the Great War, but I never thought he meant _The_ Great War. Of course, that was before we ever knew anything about So'unga, so I guess I understand why he wouldn't have told us."

"Why I…?" Myoga looked between the miko and his Lord in confusion. "My Lord," he addressed Toga, "Why is it this girl speaks as though she knows me?"

But Toga dismissed the flea with a short hand gesture, keeping his focus trained on Kagome. "You have encountered So'unga before?"

"Yes. After your death, Saya was charged with sealing So'unga within its sheath for 700 years. It was in my time when the sword became active again. It took control of Inuyasha, but he managed to fight off the dark will of the sword long enough to bring it back to the past, and to Sesshomaru. Together, they defeated it, returning it to the fires of its making."

"And with the Shikon sealing Memnon's power in this plane, he could not rise when the portal was opened."

"Sure," Kagome replied slowly. She blinked a couple of times and shook her head to try and clear a path through the tangled mess of information. "But I still don't get what the Panther tribe has to do with any of this."

Toga shrugged. "They have been led to believe that Kunabi's campaign is for conquest. With the human armies as slaves and the opposing youkai population eliminated, the land would be theirs."

"They're being used?"

"Only by their own delusions of grandeur."

Taking one last look across the planes at the movements of the enemy army, Toga turned away from it and began moving north. "We must make for the keep quickly," he said. "They come in search, and we shall not leave them disappointed."

"But in search of what?" Kagome asked as she looked up at him.

He didn't look at her when he answered, but even from his side, Kagome could see the hard set of his features and the dark waves of amber crashing through the golden surfaces of his eyes.

"Me."

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Okay, just so you know, the setup for that chapter took forever! I have officially made Wikipedia my best friend, because without it, I would be absolutely lost (Yeah, yeah, I know that the information isn't always accurate. But considering I went from knowing nothing to knowing something, it's pretty darn impressive from my standpoint).

_Some facts:_

This story is being set in the Heian period of Japanese history which began in 794 after the movement of the capital to Heian kyo (present day Kyoto). In 939, a revolt began in the Iyo province and quickly spread throughout the entire San'yo region (the area in the southwest of Honshu - the main island of Japan) just west of Kyoto. If you want to know how it ended in history, you're going to have to look it up yourselves. It's an interesting account, but not to my purposes. I was simply looking up facts of the time period as well as land divisions to better acquaint myself with the area, and the bizarre similarities to what I wanted to do and what actually happened found me here (especially considering that a simultaneous revolt occurred in the eastern Hitachi province, which is located very near to the present day Tokyo…awfully close to one mystic well, isn't it ;p).

Izanami. I am sure many of you have heard this name before (-coughs- DLL's A Sentinel Mother). In Japanese mythology, she is both the Goddess of Creation as well as the Goddess of Death (now that story is weirder than anything I can cook up). She died giving birth to Kagu-Tsuchi (incarnation of fire) and was buried on Mt. Hiba.

What else?...Kunabi…I made that up :) But Abi and Tekkei, along with Karan, Shunran, Shuuran, Toran, and Oyakata are some names that I would have never found without my trusty Wikipeida having so much information on the Inuyasha story.

Well, I guess that's all for tonight. I need some sleep.

Later all.

Shadow


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The view when they crested the mountain peaks of Hiba was magnificent. A forest dense with pine and cedar spanned across the foothills of the mountains base, stretching on for miles until the land opened up into a long, lazy stretch of rolling planes and grassy hill. And beyond, the shimmering surface of Lake Shinji captured the light of the sun upon its glassy surface, reflecting it back in beautiful arrays of flashing golden light and depthless crystal blues.

On the western shores of the inland lake, the land had been divided by aqueducts carrying water to the rice fields surrounding the human settlement, and the sweeping arches of the great Shine stood in guard of the clustering of houses and buildings that formed the village. And to the north, visible as only a deepening of the blue stretching across the horizon, the land came to an end and the ocean began.

"It's beautiful," Kagome whispered. Her hand tightened around Toga's arm in excitement. She looked up at him, her beautiful smile radiating joy. "Is this where you live?" She couldn't help but wonder. She knew so much about him, and yet, sometimes, she felt as though she knew nothing at all.

"The mountain is one of many abodes within my territory."

Of course, answers like that didn't help at all in the way of finding out more about him. Kagome rolled her eyes elaborately. "Can't you ever give a straight answer?" she asked irritably.

Toga cocked an eyebrow at the girl's sudden affrontedness. "I was under the impression that my answer was acceptable."

"Well it wasn't." Kagome informed him.

"I see," he answered slowly. "Well, then, Kagome, tell me. What would you like to know?"

Kagome blinked. "Really?"

With a passive shrug of his shoulders, Toga replied, "I have nothing to hide."

Now this was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. Had she not been careful, Kagome would have given herself away by smirking with devious glee. She managed to hold it in though, and proceeded to question Toga in a very important matter, one which had nagged at her incessantly over the years she had traveled with Inuyasha, but which she had never actually gotten up enough nerve to ask. Now, however, she simply had to know. And, being that she was talking with the Big Bad Dog himself, she figured she shouldn't let the opportunity go to waste.

"Okay, so I was wondering, how exactly do you…" She was forced to pause a moment as she fought through a threatening break of giggles, but once calming herself with a deep breath, she pressed forwards. "…Mark your territory?"

Biting her lip against the nearly physical pain it was causing her to hold back on her laughter, Kagome watched as Toga drew up an inquisitive brow at her question. He blinked once in shock, and then shook his head and reset his features in a more passive expression, asking her instead, "Should not a miko know these things?"

Kagome grimaced and quickly looked away. Damn him for turning this around on her! "Yeah, about that," she began nervously. "See, I'm not exactly a miko. I never really got any training, I just sorta learned as I went."

When he didn't answer, Kagome fought against her own humility to sneak a look at him. He had turned away from her, but she could see the hard set of his features and feel the stiffness of his body against hers. She gulped a little, thinking she had gone just a little too far in her game. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean anything by it. I was just playing."

He looked back to her then, the burning gold of his eyes fierce as the hardened surfaces caught the light of the midday sun. "Blood."

Kagome blinked in shock and pulled back slightly. "Huh?" was the only thing she could think to ask.

Tightening his hold on the little miko, Toga increased his speed to bring them in closer. "I smell blood."

Gasping when realization struck her, Kagome asked fretfully, "Whose?"

But Toga only shook his head, concentrating on pushing past the tight tangle of the tree canopy to bring them in for a landing. At his side, Kagome held on to him with everything she had. Even with his power coursing through her to tame the heat of the flames, she could still feel so acutely the untamed fury that burned in his aura. When he was calm, there was a softness to those flames, a soothing warmth that filled every part of her with wonder and awe; but when he was angry, when he made no effort to contain the full power that he commanded, when the fires were free to crash and tumble around him in their chaotic dance, no matter how close she was to him and no matter how much trust or faith she had in him, she still felt fear, still felt the instinctive need to fight back against the fury, to defend herself from the searing heat and the endless burn of eternity.

The trees of the forest buckled under the force pressing down on them, some erupting in flames after having brushed too close to the fires of a demonic spirit. When he touched down, the very land trembled with trepidation, every living thing feeling the angry pulse of power.

Not being able to help herself, once Kagome felt his hold on her fall away, she pulled back from him; slowly and guardedly, the whole while fighting against the rising of her powers that threatened to tear away from their restraints, to trap and calm the wild burn, to sooth over it, smother it, put it to rest. But she held back, she fought against it; because she knew his anger was not towards her, and she knew that no matter how wild or dangerous he may seem, he would not bring her harm.

A rush of movement was all she registered before the air was split by a strangled cry. Focusing her senses, Kagome strained to see through the turbulent dance of crimson fires to find its source. When her vision finally cleared, she gasped.

There, held aloft in the unyielding lock of Toga's claws, squirming futilely against the steely grip, was none other than Kaijinbo.

"T…Taisho…sama…" the weasel rasped.

"Silence, fool," Toga barked out forcefully, giving the smaller youkai a sharp jerk as he tightened his grip even further. "You reek of blood, and not just your own. What have you done with the pups?"

"T…taken…" he chocked out weakly. "…tried…to stop…them…"

Pulling Kaijinbo closer to meet his furious glare, Toga asked him one last question. "Who?"

"Villagers…Chuunin has…gone to…" His words were silenced abruptly when Toga threw him to the ground. The weasel chocked and sputtered as he fought to regain his breath, but his struggle went by unnoticed by the Inu Lord.

He turned to Kagome. "Come, miko, we leave."

Kagome nodded and moved closer to Toga, but as she passed by the cowering weasel, her eyes caught his in the briefest of moments. Turning away quickly, Kagome gave herself over to Toga's hold and allowed him to lift her again.

But after only a moment had passed, she spoke. "Let me down."

"Miko…"

"No," she cut him off firmly. "Kaijinbo is not to be trusted. He knows more than what he's saying. You go to the village. I will follow that dirty rat."

Not having any time to spare in arguing with the miko, Toga shifted his course abruptly to set down on the ground again. He paused only for a moment after she was settled, but the solid look of determination that was set in her features stole away any protest he might have made. He nodded shortly to her, telling her only with the intensity of his golden gaze to be careful, and then took to the skies again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A cold wind blew through the empty village square as ancient enemies stood off.

On one side, armored with only their faith and the blessings of their Gods, stood a gathering of mortal priests. Flanking them, each brandishing the tips of the sacred arrows at their opponents, the mikos of the shrine stood ready.

Across from the mortal stand, crouched in shadow beneath their heavy cloaks, the demon minions awaited the orders of their leader. Only one stood revealed, his armor flashing as sharply in the sunlight as the emerald of his hair as it swept around him in the cold air. His eyes were hard, like ice crystals captured and suspended in eternity.

"We leave you in peace, and this is how you repay our generosity." It was the youkai that had spoken, his voice deep with unveiled anger and disgust. These lowly creatures, only they would think of using such underhanded tactics, using children to draw them out and force their hands. It was disgusting, dishonorable; and for a ninja like Chuunin, such dishonor he would gladly see repaid in blood. "Wretched humans, are you so weak that such heinous betrayal is the only thing you can think of to save your pathetic existence."

"Demon filth." The words were spit by the head priest. He, like so many others, having suffered under the claws and fangs of a youkai. Monsters, all of them. They were a plague on the land, and it was his sacred duty to see them eradicated. "You dare to set foot upon this holiest of holy ground. It shall be my pleasure to see your darkness forever vanquished."

"The children!" Chuunin demanded. "What have you done with them?"

The priest went rigid with fury. He lifted his arms wide, warding the demons away from his village and the children kept safe within. "You shall not pass!"

Growling lowly, Chuunin's eyes began to shift from ice blue to crimson red. With a sharp gesture to his men, the demon Ninjas attacked.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Flattening herself against the trunk of a nearby tree, Kagome willed her breathing to calm to a deep, steady pace. She knew Kaijinbo had stopped somewhere ahead. He was waiting, trying to see if he was being followed or not. Slippery little devil. He probably thought that the duplicate he had left to throw off his scent trail would have kept anyone from following him. Maybe it could have, for a while anyways; that was, of course, if the one following him had been tracking him using scent, sound, or even visual imprints. Kagome, however, was not; and following the path of his aura as he slipped away from the guard at the mountain Keep was relatively easy.

Still, she remained cautious, keeping her distance from the youkai as much as she could without risking loosing him. His senses were nothing like the Inu's she was so accustomed to spending her time with, and that gave her even more of an edge. With Inuyasha always intent on keeping her away from the well and her portal home, Kagome had learned long ago how to suppress her aura, hide her scent, and conceal her tracks. If she could fool an Inu, she could fool a lowly weasel any day.

He was moving again, and Kagome slipped away from the tree she had been hiding behind, picking her way carefully through the undergrowth of the forest to make as little noise as possible. He was making his way back towards the mountain. Once his decoy was left near the stone escarpment that lifted towards a deep cut in the rock face which she identified immediately by the strong currents of Toga's presence still clinging to the stone, he had backtracked through the wood, carrying some distance before veering off to approach the mountain again.

The longer she followed, the more exposed her position became. The trees were thinning, their bounteous cover giving way to long stretches of bare ground littered with stone and crumbles of debris from the mountain looming overhead. She took what cover she could when she was able, but did not break away from her pursuit. She refused to let him escape.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Why are you doing this?"

The miko's voice trembled. She could see her death coming in the eyes of the youkai that stood above her fallen form.

Chuunin sneered down at the pathetic wretch. "You spill the blood of our children, hold them prisoner to sacrifice to your greedy gods, and you dare to ask why?"

"Your children?" the woman asked in confusion. "We have not taken any children."

"Lies!"

The metal of his blade flashed with deadly foreboding as he lifted it against the fallen woman.

"Stop."

Chuunin's strike was held back by the strong hand that took hold of his arm. Ripping away from the other's hold, the ninja spun quickly to reset his stance. His eyes widened in recognition when they fell on Toga, and he immediately dropped his blade from attack position. "General," he addressed him as he tilted his head in difference.

"The woman speaks the truth," Toga informed him. Turning his attention to the woman on the ground, he took a better measure of her scent. While she had not lied, she still knew more than she was divulging. However, he could see in her eyes that she would not be forthcoming with the information he wanted, so he turned back to his commander. "Call your men off from the battle. Enough blood has been spilt." Lifting his hand, he pointed towards a small domicile near to the shrine. "There. Take the building, search it thoroughly; but do not engage the humans any more than necessary."

Chuunin quickly took to Toga's orders and turned to gather his men. Once he had gone, Toga turned back to the woman. She was looking at him strangely, as though she wasn't believing what she was seeing or hearing.

"Why…?" she asked in confusion. "Why would you give such an order?"

"It is not my wish to see you suffer unduly," Toga replied. "This village has unknowingly been under my protection for centuries. It is with regret that these circumstances have brought us to bloodshed. However, for our young, there is no concession. If they are here, the ones responsible shall pay the price of such a transgression."

The woman struggled to raise herself, making it as far as her knees before her weakened body refused to allow her any more movement. Still, she lifted her eyes proudly to the youkai, willful and defiant even if it meant her last breath. "It is creatures like you that steal our children from their beds at night! If you have lost yours, perhaps you should look in your midst for the monster responsible!"

His eyes narrowing into amber slits of fury, Toga promptly turned away from the woman. Such biases he had come to expect from her kind. So narrow-minded, nothing but ignorant children were these mortals. They could not see truth, couldn't even begin to fathom it.

But such knowledge only made it that more remarkable to him that Kagome was not held by these seemingly impossible barriers of mistrust and ignorance. She kept her mind open, as well as her heart. She understood the necessity of battle, but she would not allow herself to fall victim to its savage pull, would not take a life if she could prevent it. So unlike the others of her kind he had ever encountered, even the ones that, like her, were possessed of the sacred powers of their God's trust.

It occurred to him suddenly how unusual it was that she would so adamantly accuse another of deceit. What could the swordsmith's apprentice possibly have done to cause even a trusting soul such as hers to be suspicious of his motives? He hadn't thought about it after he left her, so intent on finding the missing children; but now, he was beginning to think that maybe he shouldn't have let her go on her own, that maybe Kaijinbo was far more a threat than he would have ever assumed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was dark. Light no longer filtered through the stone, leaving the small passageway as pitch as the deepest night. Kagome groped her way along the walls, moving forward through the dark. She wouldn't risk using a light, knowing that it would only give her presence away. But not being able to see her way was causing her to slow, and she was steadily loosing ground on her pursuit.

Then, just as she nearly gave up on trying to find the way ahead without light, a voice carried from the distance to her ears. It echoed strangely across the rock expanse, muted by the depths and muffled by the tons of rock surrounding them; but still she could hear it, and in the harsh rasping of that voice, she knew that it was Kaijinbo.

"He wasn't supposed to be here!" the demon spit out furiously. "You almost ruined everything!"

A hard impact caused small rubble to fall from the uneven cut of the stone, and the high-pitched yelp accompanying it made Kagome's heart clench painfully. Her features tightened, a hard scowl forming on her lips, and she began moving forwards again, closer to the sound of the voice.

"I only needed the girl. You didn't have to be a part of any of this. But you just had to show up, had to ruin all my plans!"

Another impact, closer now; and Kagome had to bite her lip to keep herself from crying out. But she forced herself to keep her silence. She needed the upper hand. She could only pray that Sesshomaru could hold up against Kaijinbo's beating for a few more moments.

"Pathetic dog," Kaijinbo's voice was so close now, but Kagome could see nothing. "You are nothing without your father to protect you!"

Kagome was shaking with rage, and just barely managing to suppress her powers from exploding from her in fury. But she had to force them still. She couldn't risk exposing Sesshomaru or the young Abi to the force of her attack. Her hands tightened around the hilt of her sword. "Sesshomaru." Her voice wasn't even a whisper in the dark. "I need some light."

Ignited instantly in a blinding arch of searing heat, twin whips of light shot outwards to slam into the stone of the mountain. The impact was jarring, the rock surrounding them groaning in protest as it absorbed the shock.

For a moment, Kagome could do nothing but steady herself against the fallout and blink against the sudden surge of light; but the intensity of the light began to fade, leaving only long lines of residual burn against the face of the stone walls. In the dim light remaining, Kagome found focus just in time to see Kaijinbo lift a heavy mallet and bring it down on Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru tried to deflect the blow, but he was weak, his form made unsteady by the injuries he had already acquired in fighting the weasel. And with his arms bound in irons from the youkai forge, he could do nothing but bear the brunt of the force against a non-vital body-part. The mallet slammed into his arm, the force breaking bones and ripping through tendons and muscles. He howled in pain, loosing his footing and crashing down to the ground again.

"I might have let you live," Kaijinbo hissed through his crooked fangs. "But now I think I'll grind your bones and throw them into the fires of my forge." He began to lift his weapon again, his dark eyes gleaming in the faint flicker of light still burning along the walls. "I'm sure a weapon forged of the_ great_ Inu no Taisho's only son will fetch a mighty price."

"Bastard!!" A brilliant light cut through the shadows, the blade that carried it singing as it sliced the air.

Before the youkai had even registered what was happening, before the light even cut into his vision, he was assaulted by the whit-hot burn of purity. Anguished, a screech was torn from his throat. He stumbled back, disoriented and off balance, his entire body burning with wave after wave of impossible agony. Before his eyes, his right arm fell away, cut straight through by the pure light.

Following the cut of the blade, Kagome brought her arms back, knocking Kaijinbo fully off-balance with a solid strike from her elbow. She followed his path to the ground, and before he had even hit, she was on top of him. Leveling the tip of her sword at his throat, she brought her foot down to trap his only remaining arm.

"Vile creature!" she spit at him. "They are only children, and you would treat them this way!" He hissed deeply in his throat, baring his fangs at her, the deadly lengths glinting fiercely in the light cast off by her sword; but Kagome only pressed harder against his throat with the tip of the blade, coming within mere millimeters of purifying him completely. "If you move even so much as an inch, you will be dead," she told him, her voice low and gravely, just barely containing her fury.

Once satisfied that Kaijinbo wasn't going anywhere, Kagome let her eyes move briefly to catch sight of Sesshomaru. He was struggling painfully to raise himself from the ground, but he was still in one piece, and she couldn't be more grateful. Turning slightly more, in the light cast off by the blade in her hands, she finally saw the young princess that had obviously been the target of Kaijinbo's plans.

Like Sesshomaru, she had been chained, her wrists and ankles locked together by short lengths of iron. She was huddled down against the wall, her knees drawn up to her chest and held with shaking arms. Kagome could see the fear in the eyes of the girl demon when they met with her own, but she meant her no harm.

"Abi," she called out to her softly. "I will not hurt you. I only want to get you and Sesshomaru back to the safety of the Keep. But I need your help. You must get the keys from Kaijinbo." Her eyes flashed briefly to the waistband of the youkai held pinned under her, and then moved back to the girl.

Abi took in a few short, uncertain breaths; but a soft whine of pain coming from Sesshomaru gave her all the convincing she needed. If he could have been so brave to try and fight that evil creature for her sake, then she could be brave as well. Slowly, she began moving towards the miko. Her skin tingled every time a new wave of the pure light brushed past her, and it chilled her to the bone. But her determination kept her moving, inching her way ever closer. When at last she was close enough, she reached out with a trembling hand and snatched the keys away from Kaijinbo. Immediately she pulled away from the miko, retreating back to where Sesshomaru was slowly pulling himself back together after the brutal beating he had taken.

With the children taken care of, Kagome turned her attention back fully to the evil swordsmith. He was glaring at her murderously, the dark of his eyes only seeming that much darker in such close proximity to her radiant light. She knew he would take any chance she gave him to strike back at her, but she did not plan on giving him such an opportunity.

"I almost feel sorry for you," she said to him. "Your wicked ways have sealed your fate. Death would be a gracious release." Her eyes narrowed when he shifted beneath her hold, and she applied even more pressure to the blade at his throat. "Too bad for you I'm not feeling all that gracious at the moment. Sesshomaru," she called out to the boy without taking her eyes from the youkai beneath her, "Bring me the chains."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Lord Toga."

Chuunin's address turned Toga away from the tense stand-off against the remaining members of the shrine's defense. He had taken up guard to allow his men the time and space they needed to search, warding off any ill-advised movements on the mortal's behalf.

When he looked back to the ninja, however, he realized the enormity of the error in coming to this place. In the commander's hands, soaked in more than simply her own blood, the still form of the firecat lay lifeless.

"A diversion," he growled. "Go, Chuunin, find that traitor Kaijinbo and bring him to me. I will see what the feline knows of this."

With a stiff nod, Chuunin deposited the little body of the firecat on the ground before gathering his energy and taking to the skies. His men followed close behind in vibrant streaks of colored light.

As Toga looked down at the little bundle of fur and he caught again the scent of not only her blood, but Abi's and Sesshomaru's as well, his eyes bled crimson in painful fury. He had been such a fool!

An angry snarl ripped out of him as he drew the blade of his fang. And with one solid sweep of the blade, he set right the wrong that had been his doing.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Breathing a sight of relief to be in the sun again, Kagome was quick to haul Kaijinbo over to the nearest sturdy tree. The whole length of the chains that bound him were glowing with her pure light, and he was powerless against it, forced to move as she would make him. She secured the chains around the thick trunk of the tree, testing the strength of the lock one with a harsh pull to be satisfied they would hold, and then wiped her hands of Kaijinbo's treachery. His fate would be decided soon enough, but not by her.

Turning her attention to the young, Kagome moved to help Abi with the struggling Sesshomaru. She was shocked when the young bird squawked shrilly in warning, but recovered herself quickly. "His arm's been dislocated," she told the girl. "I need to set it or he won't heal properly."

"Abi-hime," Sesshomaru's voice was tight as he fought through his pain to speak, but it did not waver. "Let Kagome help."

"Kagome?" Abi's eyes widened in astonishment to hear Sesshomaru speak the name of a mortal. She looked to the Inu curiously, but he was already pulling away from her, leaving her steadying arm behind in favor of the miko's. She couldn't understand. Mortals charged with the light were a thing feared by all youkai. How could he so willing accept her? How could he put his trust in this human woman, this miko?

Confused and still uncertain of the miko, Abi held back, watching curiously as the mortal took such care of the wounded Inu.

"Does it hurt?" Kagome asked softly, her fingers brushing over the slipped joint to try and find the proper pivot to reset the bone.

"A little," Sesshomaru replied.

"Liar." She smiled gently. "That was brave, what you did for Abi. Your father would be very proud."

He looked away from her, hiding his troubled eyes. "I could not stop him."

"Maybe not." Lifting her hand, she ran her fingers delicately down the side of his face, tracing over a terrible welt that marred his usually flawless skin. "But I couldn't have stopped him either if you hadn't stood up and taken that hit." Her hand began to tremble, and she pulled it away. "I'm so sorry."

"I am grateful."

Hearing his soft statement, Kagome smiled anew. "So am I," she replied. He looked confused for a moment, and she chuckled a little. Even with everything coming down around her, seeing Sesshomaru show any kind of expression, especially one of confusion, was still so bizarre that she couldn't help but to be lightened by it. Shaking her head to bring herself back to focus on the matter at hand, she tightened her grip on his arm. "Are you ready?"

Taking a firm hold of a nearby branch, Sesshomaru braced his footing and nodded shortly to her.

She nodded back, let out a long breath to steady herself, and then pulled.

A strangled cry was ripped out of him even though he fought to contain it. The pain was paralyzing and blinding. Even the blow that had caused the damage didn't hurt this bad. His vision was taken over by red, his eyes bleeding crimson and his fangs growing out as his demonic spirit surged.

But Kagome didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him, soothing him with soft whispers and the gentle heat of her touch. It was comforting, like nothing he had ever known, and he couldn't help but relax into her warm embrace, whimpering lightly against her as she soothed away the pain.

Having thought the worst had passed, Kagome almost missed the dark shadow that flitted across her senses. She tensed, pulling back quickly from Sesshomaru and pushing him behind her. In seconds she had her bow in her hands. Out in the open, she didn't have to fear the burnoff of her arrow hitting anything but her target.

"Kagome…"

But Sesshomaru's warning wouldn't make it out in time. The trees rustled in a surge of movement, and when the dust cleared, Kagome found herself looking into even more faces from her past. Her breath hitched and the tension she had been holding in her bowstring grew lax.

The demon ninjas had her outnumbered and surrounded, and leading them now as he had in her time; Hoshiyomi stepped forward to meet her.

"Stop! Stop! STOP!!" It was Abi's voice that rang out, shrill and piercing to cut through the tension of the encounter. Rushing forward, she planted herself between Kagome and the ninjas. "Chuunin, do not harm the miko."

Sparing a look at the little princess, Chuunin replied steadily, "Do not be a fool, girl. Step aside."

"Chuunin." This time it was Sesshomaru who spoke, and he too stepped in front of Kagome. "This miko is under father's care. She is not to be harmed."

Kagome looked on in wonder at the two young youkai standing in her defense. But though she was vaguely becoming aware of the fact that the demon ninjas were apparently on their side in the war, her thoughts were preoccupied with only one question.

_Who the heck is Chuunin?_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chuunin – meaning, Ninja Master. For those of you who recall, Hoshiyomi was not the demon ninja's original name. He says that he changed it after he met Tsukiyomi. Since we are never given his original name, I thought that this would be fitting.

Kaijinbo – I have no idea what kind of youkai he is, but I thought that he would make a great weasel, all sneaky and the like, and those teeth! shudders definitely a carnivore.

Well, I guess that's all for tonight. Till next time

Shadow


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Let me tell you the story of Hoshiyomi."

Settled down within the safety of the mountain keep, surrounded by the warmth of the fires that churned in the forges below and seated comfortably against an inviting pile of soft furs and overstuffed pillows, Kagome looked up from the youkai children that were waiting to hear he tale. Across the great cavern, she could see the demon ninjas settled around a fire basin, dutifully cleaning their weapons from the earlier battle. Their leader stood away from them, blending with shadows cast by the flickering lights of the fires that lit the Keep. His heavy armor removed for the quiet night; still he maintained a hard edge.

He was suspicious of her, she could see it the icy blue of his eyes as they flashed in her direction. So cold, so mistrustful. It was hard to see how he could love one of her kind. But then, perhaps it wasn't so hard. Because though he had loved her, though he had gone against his own to be with her; still that mistrust remained, still he found it so easy to turn away, to believe in her betrayal.

Hoshiyomi. She understood now who he was. Chuunin had changed his name to be with the woman he loved, the mortal woman that had captured his heart. But maybe, things didn't have to be that way, maybe they wouldn't be. Kaijinbo was taken by Toga to be questioned, but Kagome didn't think the vile demon would live through the night. Even if he did, by some miraculous act of compassion on Toga's behalf, the weasel demon's days in the forges were gone to him. With only one arm, the evil blades she had seen that emerged from the fires of his forges might never be crafted.

Looking away from the demon ninja, the one named Chuunin; Kagome brought her focus back to the young ones sitting by her side and prepared to tell the story of that demon's life, only of a different time, and with a different name.

"Hoshiyomi was a great demon warrior. He was intelligent, powerful, a fearful opponent to any that would stand against him. But as is bound to happen, a time came when in his stand he lost. Lost his heart. She was a powerful warrior, beautiful, graceful, and radiant. He looked at her and he saw, for the first time he saw how wrong he had been, how all his life he had hated for the wrong reasons.

His love, the woman who had captured his heart, was human.

Over the years, their love grew. They each had turned against their own, forsaking ancient boundaries and misguided beliefs that had for so long kept their people apart. Together, they fought against those that would see their love fail, against demons and humans alike. But they had fought for so long, and still it seemed that there would never be an end to it.

Hoshiyomi, after having been witness so many times to his love's strength failing her after a battle, swore to himself that he would find a way to stop her battles forever, a way for them to live in peace. But how? How could he bring the fighting to an end? How, when it seemed impossible, when everywhere they turned there was someone else who would seek to have their happiness destroyed, who would try to take away their love and their lives?

Power. That was what he decided. The only way for the fighting to end was if he had control of the ultimate power. With every creature that would stand against him destroyed, his love would be free to live her life without the constant strain of battle stealing away her years little by little.

Decided, Hoshiyomi set out to find a demon capable of forging for him this ultimate weapon, this totem of power that would give him the strength to bring down any enemy. From the corpses of 222 demons, their power combined to create a power that was not just of the earth, but with the strength of the gods themselves, the Naginata of Kenkon, the Blade of Heaven and Earth was born.

In his hands, Hoshiyomi held the greatest power the land had ever known. He used it to bring down all who would stand against them, spilling blood and taking lives without mercy and without second thought. He was such a fool. Power corrupts, and ultimate power corrupts ultimately. Being driven by the blade's insatiable lust for blood, he could not see that it was no longer his will he followed, but that of the demon spirits held captive within the Naginata of Kenkon.

But while Hoshiyomi remained blind of the corruption stealing over him, his love was not. She called to him to end the madness, to cast aside the evil blade; but he would not listen. So intent in his purpose to see his enemies driven into the dust and consumed by the dark will of the ultimate weapon, Hoshiyomi would not see the truth until it was too late.

Knowing that she had to do something to bring her love back to her, the woman warrior worked out a plan. She would seal Hoshiyomi, using her power to strip him of the Naginata; and once it was removed, she could finally be reunited with her love. It was a terrible betrayal of his trust, but she could think of no other way. Out of love she acted against Hoshiyomi, sealing both their fates.

She had not been prepared for the terrible power of the Naginata of Kenkon, and in the effort to break the blade and seal it away so that its power could corrupt no more, she gave all that she had. When it was over, she had nothing left to set her love free from the bindings she had placed upon him. She fell, her last breath taken in anguish over the knowledge that she had failed him.

Time passed, her body turning from flesh to bone, from bone to dust; and eventually, the seals that she had created to bind Hoshiyomi began to weaken. Freed from his prison of wronged love, Hoshiyomi vowed vengeance, not only upon the woman who had betrayed him so, but upon all of her kind. Against all of humanity he would reap his revenge, and he would do it with the power of the Naginata of Kenkon.

Hoshiyomi searched for the blade for many years, and eventually, he found one of the broken pieces. With the Kon blade in his hands once more, he needed only the Ken blade to complete his plans, to have the whole of the earth wiped clean of the humans he had come to hate so unbearably.

With a human woman it had begun, and it would be a human woman that would bring it all to and end again. A miko with the power of light to break the seals so long ago placed upon the demon blade was needed, and in finding her, Hoshiyomi found his end.

She was a warrior much like the woman he had loved so long ago, and like her, this mortal priestess had found companionship and love with the demons with which it was forbidden. He took her, holding her hostage in an attempt to lure the keeper of the Ken blade to him. And it was to this mortal priestess that he told his story.

Humans are weak, he had told her. Weak of both body and soul. But even though they are weak, the try to live proudly. That is why they betray, to save themselves from their own weakness. He was so blind, so driven by his hatred, that he couldn't see that the weakness he spoke of was not born of the mortal heart, but of his own.

Hoshiyomi captured the Ken blade, using the power of the mortal priestess to make the Naginata whole again. But she would not allow this travesty to take place. With her friends fighting by her side, demon and human alike, she would stand against even the impossible power of the Naginata of Kenkon.

Not alone would they make this stand. When the end came, when there seemed no more hope for victory, their saving grace came to them. Possessing the body of the young priestess, the once love of Hoshiyomi spoke to him one last time. She begged him to understand, to see the necessity of her action, the err of his ways. She asked for his forgiveness, asked that he look past her betrayal and know that it was only for her love that she would resort to such desperate acts.

But the will of the demon blade was still strong, and still it demanded blood. Hoshiyomi had been made a slave to its savage pull, and he could not stop himself from lifting it again against his enemies.

The Blade of Heaven and Earth, forged with the power of 222 demon souls; it was not enough to stand against the power of love. A mortal priestess blessed by the light, and a demon child who held the fires of the earth in his hands, together they brought and end to the Naginata of Kenkon, and to Hoshiyomi.

With his final breath, Hoshiyomi's eyes were opened to the truth. He knew then how wrong he had been to doubt the strength of his heart, how misguided his actions were to seek a power beyond that which he could command. He embraced his death, going willingly to the lands beyond, knowing that waiting for him there he would find his love and that at long last they could be free of battle and bloodshed, free to love as they had been denied in their lives."

- - - - - - - - - - -

As Kagome was telling her story, Chuunin could not help but wonder at it. He had never heard of such a story, never heard of such a weapon. It was…unsettling. And what was more, they way she told it, as though she knew more than her words would say but which could be heard in between the soft tones of her voice and seen in the unconscious shifts of her form, he found it highly disturbing, though he could not place exactly why.

He was wary of her. Too easily had she been invited into their midst. He had never heard of this girl, never heard of a miko warrior of the likes she pretended to be. It was a façade, he knew it unquestionably. She was too soft, her affections given too freely. But only so far as those she thought she needed to convince. She had swayed the General, turned his pup to her views, even managed to corrupt the little princess; but she did not try to pretend with him, would not even meet him in the eyes without looking away again, hiding her secrets and her lies.

Determined to learn more, to see if her words held any merit of truth, Chuunin made his way over to the old pyromancer where he worked on new blades in the light of his forge's fire.

"Totosai," the ninja called for the old youkai's attention. "Do you hear the story the miko tells?"

"Blah," Totosai waved a hand quickly and irritably, never taking his eyes away from the weapon he was working on. "I have more important things to do with my time than listen to children's stories."

Undeterred by the old youkai's apathy, Chuunin continued questioning him. "This demon blade she speaks of, the Naginata of Kenkon, have you ever heard of something of its like?"

"Nonsense," the old one spit out heatedly. "No swordsmith would be foolish enough to craft a blade of so many demons. It would be a disaster waiting to happen!"

"But it could be done," Chuunin pressed. "Such a weapon could be forged with the power she speaks of."

Old Totosai breathed out a plume of demon fire to sear against the blade he was working on, heating the metal until it glowed red. "Not by me," he muttered absently as he struck the blade with his mallet. "And I am the only youkai that would know how to do it."

"Hn." Still not appeased, but realizing he would get no further with the tantrum old youkai, Chuunin brought his attention back to the story the miko was telling. It still unnerved him, the words she spoke having the strangest effects. It was almost as though he knew the words she was going to say before she said them, knew what the characters of her story would do even though it seemed impossible that he would.

"Kagome's stories are always quite impactful, wouldn't you agree, Chuunin?"

Broken from his conflicting thoughts by Toga's remark, Chuunin tried to brush it aside, asking instead, "Did you find what you needed from the weasel?"

"A simple enough ploy," Toga replied. "Kunabi's reach seems to stem even further than I would have imagined. Kaijinbo was planning on taking the young princess back to her father. It is fortunate Kagome was able to derive his motives before he could reach his destination."

"Lord Toga." Chuunin simply couldn't keep his silence any longer. "That woman is hiding something. How can you put such trust in her? She is no different from the others of her kind. She will betray you."

Toga shook his head slowly. "You are wrong, Chuunin. It is not she that would betray me, but I that would betray her." His gaze moved across the room to the young miko, seeing her curled up with the children, the pups so calmed by her presence and entranced by the story she weaved. But still, even if they could not see it, he could. "Can't you see it," he asked of the ninja, "the pain in her eyes? Can't you feel it, her heart calling out for you to listen? Hear her story, Chuunin. She is not telling it to the children, but to the one whose life she is trying to save now."

With that, Toga left his commander and began walking towards the miko and the young ones curled up at her side. Her story was drawing to a close, and as he neared she looked up at him. When she smiled, that warm, happy smile; he found himself smiling back as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"May I join you?"

"Of course," Kagome replied, though, after a look around her and seeing Sesshomaru sitting close on her right and having little Abi tucked under her left arm, she added with a soft giggle, "But you're on your own for finding some real-estate."

Toga, however, was way ahead of her in that department. Bending down, he lifted Sesshomaru from his place by the miko's side. He was mildly shocked when his pup snipped at him angrily, but he wasn't really surprised. He soothed the boy with a soft rumble that vibrated in his chest, pulling him up to rest against him as he settled down by the miko's side. Absently, he brought his hand up to smooth through the boy's hair, threading through tangles matted in the silken strands.

In no time, Sesshomaru had relaxed again, leaning into his father's gentle grooming. He was tired, his whole body still aching even though his wounds were steadily healing. And though he had wanted to hear more of the miko's stories; being held, safe and secure, and hearing his father's low, reassuring growls, his desire to stay awake was steadily being taken over by the lure of sleep. But it was alright, because he couldn't remember a time when he had felt so content and so at peace.

"I think he's got the right idea," Kagome said as she took in the sight of the young Sesshomaru snuggling against his father to find a more comfortable place as he drifted off to sleep. Her smile was warm with affection as she looked at him. Being here, seeing him like this, knowing him away from the coldness and the ice that he had barricaded himself behind, it truly was amazing.

Turning slightly, she looked down at the other young youkai that had fallen into her world. She was even more a mystery. So small, so timid. How had this girl ever found the courage to flee from her home and travel such an impossible distance to find Toga? How could she smile now even knowing how much had been taken from her by So'unga's dark will? And what more terrible things would befall this child to turn her into the vengeful princess that she had met in the future?

"Will you tell another story, Miss Kagome?" Abi asked quietly, her eyes bright even in the muted shadows cast by the walls of stone around them.

"Actually, I have a story to tell."

It was Toga that had spoken, and Kagome looked to him curiously. When his eyes met hers, however, she could see a darkness in them, a sad tide of amber waves that she knew, that she had seen before.

He could see her silent questions, but for now, the only answers he had lay in the story he would tell.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I was going to write more, but it's late and I have to get to bed. So, I hope everyone enjoyed while it lasted.

Please leave a review on your way out, because it makes Shadow happy :)

Later all

Shadow


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"In the beginning, before Gods descended, before there was earth or sky, fire or water, before there was life; there existed that which is nameless. It was the void, the nothingness, the dark. It had no purpose, nothing but the endlessness of the dark and the madness of eternity. That was until the Gods called the universe into existence, and the first glimmer of light was cast into the darkness. Then the Nameless one found purpose, found something that could fill the void of its solitude. Purpose gave it drive, drive gave it focus, focus gave it strength, strength gave it power, and power it used to destroy.

It was the anathema, the darkness to the light brought by the God's love. It had no heart, no love, no life. It was only the carnage, the destruction. The merciless one. The destroyer. The ender of life. It was the sin of all sins. It was destruction, madness, pain, suffering, and anguish unimaginable.

It was Evil.

So terrible and monstrous was this darkness, that when its shadow fell upon the God's light in the beginning of creation, when its corruption threatened to smother the new life being born in the wake of such love; even the greatest of the Gods would not look upon its face.

Repulsed by the presence of Evil in their midst, the Gods turned on it, banishing it forever to a prison of fire. Locked within, the dark one howled its fury, shaking the restraints that bound it with the hideous vibrations. It tore and clawed through the flames, eternally searching for a weakness, for a means of escape. And when it found it, it would unleash its fury against all who had bound it to that place.

The Gods could hear the howls of vengeance, and they knew that should ever the darkness escape, all of light and life and hope would be lost. So, in their place, as they could not walk upon the burning land that held the fires of destruction, they sent their children to watch over all life.

As all children do, they grew and prospered. Time passed, new lives were made, new hopes and dreams formed in the eyes of children long gone from their parent's strong embrace. But without the guidance of their parent's love, soon the children grew forgetful. They forgot their purpose, forgot the duty that had been their sacred trust. And as they strayed from their guard, as they moved on with life as it seemed only right, the Nameless one watched and waited.

A time finally came when the hold of the fires grew weak with the children's neglect. In that time, unbeknownst to those living above, the one below began to grow strong again. The darkness, once kept sealed, locked forever in the pits of fire, found that it could reach out beyond its prison and touch the children of the Gods with its dark hands.

Hatred, greed, corruption; those things dark and tainted, they spawned from the touch of the damned, turning those innocent children into something no longer of the Gods. They were filled with the darkness, were fed by the flames of eternity, given power by the Dark Lord. They turned on their brothers and sisters, bringing chaos and destruction and death to the land.

So terrible was the carnage, so great the loss of life, that the Nameless one found purpose once more. No longer was it lost, trapped within the binding flames. No longer was its prison strong enough to hold back its fury. From the fire it emerged, darkness suffocating the land of life. Its roar of triumph thundered through the heavens; and when the Gods heard it, even they felt fear.

But there was one, one child left who had not heeded the dark voice, who had not fallen to its terrible call. She, and she alone, stood against the rising of the darkness, a light apart from the world of shadow. Surrounded by fire, enveloped by the hand of Death, she made the ultimate sacrifice. Her very soul, the light of the God's love given to every one of their children, she offered it up the darkness, gave it of herself in faith and trust.

Horror sounded in the terrible cry unleashed by the Nameless one, for in that light it saw the truth of its being, all of it hideousness and monstrosity. It fell away from her, from this child of purity and light; clawing and scraping its way back into the fires, away from the horror of truth.

When it was over, the Enlightened one fell. But not to death would the Gods cast their most precious daughter, but to new life, to new hope. No longer an immortal, no longer one with the First Children, no longer with the power over the land or the skies; She became the Mother, the First of all mankind.

From her many children were born, and from them many more. In each rested a tiny spark that was once her light; and as they grew in number, as their life spread over the land, that light forever would keep the dark one imprisoned in his fiery cage of fear.

Nameless it would be no longer, for these children would never forget the sacrifice that brought them life, and which in turn would ultimately take it away. To forget would be to condemn their mortal souls to the fires, to smother their light with the suffocating hand of the dark. They gave it names that would invoke fear, told stories of its hideousness and its monstrosity.

Never forget, they warned their children, lest you fall victim to the fires of madness as well. Be not like the First Children. Do not forget the sacrifice of our loving Mother. Stand against the dark; let our light give life not death. For only the light may conquer the dark.

Only the light."

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"That was sweet."

Toga blinked in confusion and turned to get a better look at the smiling priestess. "I do not believe you were hearing the point of the story," he told her slowly.

Giggling softly, Kagome shook her head. "No, I understand. But it is the same story that has been told countless times. A battle of good against evil, light against dark. We all know who will win in the end, but we just can't help but be drawn into the story, to hold our breath until that moment where good overcomes."

"Kagome…" He couldn't understand. He was telling her of the past, of the war that had changed life for all time. He was telling her that now that the battle had come again it would be she that would have to stand against the dark, her light that would be sacrificed to seal away the nameless one once more. And she was laughing, brushing it aside as though it was nothing?

"Shh," Bringing a finger to her lips, Kagome stopped his protests. She shifted herself carefully, mindful of the slumbering princess that was curled up at her side, and brought herself to her feet. "Come with me," she whispered once she was standing. "I want to show you something."

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Moonlight bathed the land below the mountain in a silvery curtain of light, but that light was nothing compared to the brilliance that streaked through the sky in a radiant beam of magic and power.

Kagome lifted her head to watch the path of her arrow, her face reflecting joy as the light of her powers spilled down over the land. "Pretty, isn't it?" she asked the youkai by her side.

Toga spared a glance at the sacred arrow, but it was the young priestess that had his attention. He couldn't understand her smiles, couldn't find anything for which she should be so happy. For a moment, he wondered if perhaps she had been so overwhelmed with the knowledge the story he told had given her that she had literally lost her mind.

Kagome could see the look he was giving her, and it was one she knew all too well. "You're thinking I'm crazy, aren't you," she laughed.

"The thought had crossed my mind," he replied honestly.

"Hey now!" she huffed childishly, her lips pulling into a pout. "I didn't actually want affirmation on that one. But," smiling disarmingly, she gave him a wink, "If people didn't think I was crazy, I never would have gotten to meet you."

"Hn." He eyed her suspiciously, thinking yet again that the stress of the impending battle had become too much for her mortal cognitions to function properly.

But Kagome blatantly ignored his dubious look, instead focusing on drawing and setting another arrow. Once it was set securely in the draw of her bow, she looked over to him. "What are you waiting for?"

Looking at her blankly, Toga asked, "Am I supposed to know to what you are referring?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You really are impossible. Seriously, you're starting to sound like a broken record."

"Record?"

Scowling at the response that she had totally seen coming, Kagome huffed elaborately. "Just draw your sword before my arm falls off."

Though still speculative, Toga decided just to go along with whatever the miko had planned. He reached to his side and drew out Tetsusaiga.

"You ready?" she asked. A passive shrug was her only response; but figuring that was the best she was going to get, Kagome loosed her arrow to cut in a brilliant stream through the night sky. Once it was loosed, she turned quickly to Toga. "Hit it, quickly before it looses strength."

He blinked and lifted an eyebrow in curiosity, but the scowl beginning to form on the miko's lips spurred him into action. Lifting the blade of his fang, he brought it down in a great arch and released the cutting winds of fire. The wild inferno tore through the distance between him and his target, a terrible wave of crimson fury.

As the blast approached the brilliant stream of her arrow, Kagome bit her lip in eager anticipation. She snuck a quick look at Toga from the corner of her eye, and she could see even through his intent focus that he too was watching expectantly. Her lips lifted in a wry grin. She knew he wouldn't be expecting what was to come.

There should have been an explosion, some horrible fallout from the clash of demon fires and a priestess' light. It should have been destruction, chaos, all those things that became of the bringing together of ancient enemies. But it was not as it should have been. There was no explosion, no destruction; there was only the meeting and blending together of two separate entities to create one of power unimaginable. Where there had once been her power and his, now there was something so much beyond that it defied description, defied explanation.

"Incredible," Toga whispered in bewilderment at the sight. He finally understood how she could smile even though his story had been so daunting. She did not fear having to make the final stand, because never once did she think she would face it alone. Maybe what he thought was impossible was possible after all, maybe her faith wasn't so unjustified. Maybe they really stand a chance against Memnon if they were to stand together.

"Yeah," Kagome agreed with a soft giggle at his expense. "Betcha you never thought you'd see the day a little human girl would know how to use your sword better than you…" Her words died on her lips and her eyes drew wide in shock when her mind finally caught up with the words that had spilled out of her mouth. Her cheeks instantly flushed scarlet when she saw him look back to her and lift a curious brow. "Tetsusaiga!" she corrected shrilly, pointing emphatically towards the fang in his hand. "That sword! Not…I didn't mean…It's not like that!"

Kagome took a nervous step back from the youkai when he turned fully to face her. There was something highly disturbing in the glinting golden surface of his eyes, and she was liking less and less the idea of sticking around to find out what it was.

"How was it you knew that Tetsusaiga's blast would not react adversely to your arrow?"

Toga's question had Kagome releasing a heavily grateful sigh. Whether he had done it purposefully or not, he had just saved her from a world of embarrassment. "Inuyasha and I used that trick countless times," she replied. "I never thought much about it until you told me that story about Memnon. It was like you were saying that we were so different, you know? Me with the power of light, and you, well, not. But really, we're not all that different. If we were, then not only would it be impossible for our energies to combine into one like that, but I could never have held back my powers from taking over yours again after…" She trailed off in embarrassment, but quickly recovered herself when she saw an amused smirk working its way onto his lips. "Oh, come off it! Do you really think that you're so all powerful that you could manipulate my powers if I wasn't helping you out?!"

"If this is so," Toga continued questioning her, heedless of her little outburst, "if you so readily accept the fires, then why would you fear Tenseiga?"

"I never did," Kagome replied with a shrug. "You were the one that stopped me from using it. I just thought it was best not to press the issue. I do sorta like living and all."

"Hn. Well then," he mused slowly as he re-sheathed Tetsusaiga and shifted to draw the Fang of Heaven, "Perhaps now would be the most opportune time to determine the truth of how Tenseiga will affect you."

When he lifted the blade, Kagome took a small step back from him. It wasn't exactly like she was afraid; it was just the whole idea of having a sword pointed at her by someone that had her a little freaked out. Toga, however, had obviously seen her discomfort, and he quickly shifted his grip on the fang so that he was presenting her with its hilt rather than the point of the blade. Understanding that he was giving her the freedom to test this little theory herself, Kagome send him a grateful smile before reaching out to take hold of the fang.

Holding it securely in her right hand, she brought her left up to rest tentatively against the gleaming surface of the blade. She breathed out a long breath to steady herself, then, in one quick motion, she tightened her grip on the fang and pulled it hard against her hand.

Even with the sword removed, her hand remained fisted tightly. Kagome held her breath, her rational mind telling her that any second now she was going to feel the pain or see the crimson of her blood dripping through her fingers. But the seconds ticked past, and still there was nothing. Slowly, tentatively, she began unclenching her fist.

When her eyes were finally able to see the smooth, unmarred skin of her hand, she gasped. "Incredible," she whispered in awe. She had always known that Tenseiga was a blade that could not cut, but to feel it pass through her flesh, to know that even with her blood charged with sacred energies that she could accept him as easily as he did her; it filled her with wonder and new hope.

"Indeed," Toga remarked casually as he collected his fang from the awed miko. "And I must say, Kagome, you handled my sword expertly."

Squeaking in shock and outrage, Kagome was pulled jarringly from her more endearing thoughts. She leveled the smirking demon with a hard glare. "Just for that, you're sleeping on the floor!"

And with that, Kagome wheeled away from Toga and stormed her way back into the Keep. He watched her go, his amusement over her eccentricities plainly obvious. However, the amused smirk that had been gracing his lips fell away when he realized exactly what her threat entailed; and he was left gaping at the spot where she had disappeared, the only thought running through his head being, _'But it is my bed!'_

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Kukukuku and that's what the old dog gets for being naughty ;P

Memnon – I tried to fit this in somewhere, but failed miserably. So, I'm just telling everyone now, that in my little world, Memnon means Nameless.

Well, I guess that's all. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. It didn't exactly go as I had planned it, but I think I like it better this way. The first version was too stuffy, the second too miserable, and though I missed out on a bit of mush because I went with something more comical, I'm sure I can make up for it later.

So, later all. And please remember to review. They are like candy to my muses, they gobble them up and pop out inspiration in return ;P Pretty good trade, don't ya think?

TaTa

Shadow


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